Cleo's Day Blog | Dog Advice, Cute Pics, and Life Lessons from a Rescue Dog in San Francisco

Happy Memorial Day

I salute you!

Pet Blogger Hop - Merengue Style

This weekend we plan to bust a move through lots of blogs for our weekly Pet Blogger Hop, only we thought with the holiday and nice weather here - let's do it in style!  Enjoy this cute video we found (thanks Dogster for the tip!)

Friday Friend in memoriam: Therapy Dog Gabe

A dear sweet grey Weimaraner friend, Gabriel passed away recently.  He was an Arizona buddy that personified all the qualities of our motto around here: Give Fearlessly and Influence Positively.

We got to know each other as @grouchypuppy and @TherapyDogGabe with his mama also sending us lots of woofwednesday wags each week.  We will miss Gabriel but we know he will live on through the work of Gabriel's Angels.

Please Don't Leave: Separation Anxiety in Dogs - Part 2

Editor: Don't judge a book, dog or blog by its cover. The reason I'm the muse behind Grouchy Puppy^TM is that I may look mellow and usually I am, but I also have a grouchy side.  This part of my nature makes me a real dog behind a cute name.  It also gives my pack real issues to deal with as responsible and loving pet parents.

My female met Deborah Flick of BoulderDog at Blog Paws in Columbus and bonded right away over stories and photos of their beloved pooches (Hi Sadie!).  This guest post from Deborah will run in two parts and addresses one of my issues, separation anxiety.

In case you missed part one, here's the link

Please Don't Leave: Separation Anxiety in Dogs - Part 2

But what if your dog's separation anxiety is severe? What if you feel you’ve tried everything and nothing has helped? What if it’s not possible to manage the situation so your dog doesn’t ever experience separation anxiety?

Then it’s desensitization time! The good news? When done properly, desensitization is very effective for alleviating separation anxiety. The bad news? Desensitization requires time, patience, and until the treatment has solved the problem, you must not allow your dog to experience any separation anxiety whatsoever. So, even with desensitization, some management is required temporarily.

Jean Donaldson offers one of the best explanations of desensitization I’ve read in Dogs Are From Neptune. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for relief.

In the mean time, here are some key points she makes:

1. “To fix separation anxiety, the dog has to experience the situation – being left alone – without the accompanying anxiety.”


2. The process of desensitization begins with identifying the precise conditions that initially set off the slightest sign of your dog’s anxiety, to your actual leaving and returning.


3. Desensitization involves doing a series of exercises in which you repeat, for example, brushing your teeth (if that’s when Samson starts to get edgy) and combing your hair, and then not leaving.


4. When (Samson) is relaxed when you brush your teeth and comb your hair - “no pacing, no worried look, etc. – start working on the next item in the sequence, making lunch.”


5. “When you’ve made it to the door (which may take several sessions), start off with very short absences, literally one second. Then come back in, put the keys back, then pick them up and leave again for one second. Do it over and over until it is clearly no big deal for the dog.”

Jean reassures: "You will spend much more time getting the dog to relax about…pre-departure cues than you will adding time increments later on. Once you’re out the door doing absences, the progress is much faster. You won’t always go up in one second increments either! The point is: don’t rush the early work – it’s essential. This is where you win the dog’s trust.”

Please Don't Leave: Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Editor: Don't judge a book, dog or blog by its cover. The reason I'm the muse behind Grouchy Puppy^TM is that I may look mellow and usually I am, but I also have a grouchy side.  This part of my nature makes me a real dog behind a cute name.  It also gives my pack real issues to deal with as responsible and loving pet parents.

My female met Deborah Flick of BoulderDog at Blog Paws in Columbus and bonded right away over stories and photos of their beloved pooches (Hi Sadie!).  This guest post from Deborah will run in two parts and addresses one of my issues, separation anxiety.

Please Don't Leave: Separation Anxiety in Dogs

(I'm embarrassed at how many I answered "yes")

1. Does Fido pace and pant or show other signs of anxiety when you are performing your preparing-to-leave-the-house rituals? (Getting dressed, putting on your coat, looking for your keys, checking to make sure the doors are locked, etc.)


2. Does Casey greet you as if you’ve been gone for months after a quick trip to the grocery store?


3. Does Missy attach herself to you like Velcro after you’ve come home?


4. Do your neighbors complain to you about Rover’s howling while you’re at work?


5. Did Mattie eviscerate your living room couch and chew your shoes to the consistency of gooey raw hide while you were out for dinner and a movie?


6. Is Max covered with self-inflicted wounds from licking or chewing on himself when he’s home alone?

If you answered yes to some of these questions then your dog is probably suffering from some degree of separation anxiety.

Nose Deep in Clover and Varmints

Canine Celebrity Apprentice

Who doesn't love a good story and one like Bret Michaels where he wins Celebrity Apprentice after all his hardships.  His triumph in the face of adversity is good television.

I know that my pack had a change of heart about how they perceived him after this. [We were never a fan of his MTV looking for love show]

Big dogs get a bad rap too.  Some people like landlords, assume we are all mean and are going to trash their place, like a rock star.  I love little dogs but they can be as messy or as noisy as any big dog. Truly.  Often on my walks it is the little nervous pup who does all the barking, not me.

It is good to see humans trying to influence positively, especially wild rockers.

Monday Good Cause: Support Our Libraries

In front of our branch library I meet all sorts of nice people and sometimes other dogs. One time I met people who were trying to get us to sign a petition to help with our national parks. I like the park. 

My pack likes to get books from the library because it reminds them of their childhood summers and because they like to look for books that help them take care of me. Awwwww. 

I can be a handful with my separation anxiety and the fact that a recent traumatic vet visit was related to some unknown skin conditions, my pack can use all the help they can get.

Black and White Ball(s) of Husky Puppies

In San Francisco the Black and White Ball was this weekend. Tickets to the concert and party benefits Adventures in Music, bringing music into the lives of every single student in grades 1 through 5 in the San Francisco Unified School District.

In honor of this event, my female thought it would be cute to show little black and white balls of floofy furry Husky puppies. Enjoy!

Why We Love Cats and Dogs - Saturday Pet Blogger Hop Version

It is Saturday and I'm going to weigh in on why my pack and I will watch PBS' Why We Love Cats and Dogs on Nature which is airing on our local station tomorrow May 23. Why do humans love us? In my pack on the weekends, my humans give me, a dog, all the love and attention that I give them every day they come home. Look here...

Every Saturday my pack gets up and makes me breakfast first, then their coffee.  We go out for a morning walk in the neighborhood and then I take a nap.  An hour or so later it is more me time then another walk or play outside in our yard.  Another nap for me before they make my dinner. 

Before my walks I usually get surprised by a treat or two. In the afternoons my female will often spend time brushing me.  Today will be no different, except for -hopefully- interruptions to this routine by new or old blogger friends visiting us online.  Yes I'm talking about the Pet Blogger Hop!  woof!

P.S. I can't really speak for cats, except for discovering my New Zealand feline buddy @Rumblepurr is a cool mancat and if they were all like him, I understand why humans would love cats.