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Archive for the ‘News & Tips’ Category

Around here we’re having a lot more thunderstorms this season than usual, and we happen to have a little dog who trembles uncontrollably every time. It’s horrible to feel helpless to help her. So I did some searching for some recommendations or remedies and thought, since this is a fairly common problem, I would share the info with our visitors..

Storm phobias are one of the most common problems dog owners face, but their cause is not entirely clear. Behaviorists are not yet sure what part of the storm frightens dogs most, whether they’re reacting to lightning flashes, the sound of thunder, wind blowing around the house, or the sound of rain on the roof. Some dogs even start to pace and whine half an hour or more before a storm. They may be reacting to a sudden drop in air pressure or the electrical charge of the air.

The Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association describes an Internet survey of people living with storm-phobic dogs. The survey showed that some breeds may be predisposed to a fear of storms. Herding dogs, such as collies and German shepherds, and hounds, such as beagles and basset hounds, seem to be more likely to develop a storm phobia than other dogs. The phobia is also common in sporting and working breeds. The study suggests that this tendency may be explained in terms of the dogs’ genetics. For example, herding dogs have been bred to react quickly to stimuli, such as a calf wandering away from the herd, but not to be aggressive. It could be that herding dogs have a strong reaction to the startling noises and flashes of a storm, but they repress any aggressive response to it, causing anxiety. According to the research rescued dogs may also be more likely to develop storm phobias. The theory is that these dogs are more likely to have had unpleasant, scary experiences prior to being adopted. They may have been abused or abandoned by a former owner, or they may not have been well socialized or exposed to a wide variety of sights and sounds. These kinds of early-life experiences can make dogs more anxious and prone to all kinds of phobias.

What can you do to help reduce your dog’s anxiety during the storm? Your best bet is to talk to your veterinarian. He or she can help you develop a program to gradually retrain your dog by gently helping him adjust to storms through behavior modification. Technically called “systematic desensitization,” this involves exposing the storm-phobic dog to some gentle reminders of a thunderstorm, such as a very soft tape recording of thunder or a flashing light, and rewarding the dog with lots of treats, attention, and other positive reinforcement only if there’s no evidence of anxiety. Over time, the intensity of the stimulus is increased, and only calm behavior rewarded. You should get professional guidance before you begin this process. If you introduce frightening stimuli too quickly or don’t see signs of fear your dog may be showing, you could possibly end up making the phobia worse.

If gentle, patient retraining doesn’t help your paranoid pooch, there are some holistic remedies and prescriptions that can. Your veterinarian can prescribe one of several anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications to help your dog remain calm during storms. You can also make sure your dog has a warm, safe “den” to retreat to when the weather gets too scary. You can try padding a crate with blankets or clearing a space underneath your bed. Just make sure that it’s somewhere your pup can get out of whenever he wants. A panicked dog can do a lot of damage to his crate and himself if he’s confined.

Most important, though, is that you treat your dog gently and kindly when he is afraid. Don’t cuddle and reassure him, because that will reward his scaredy-dog behavior, but definitely don’t punish him for it either. Instead, just be calm and provide him with a safe, familiar place where he can feel secure and ride out the storm.

Barney the six-year old Doberman, working as a guard dog at a teddy bear exhibition in England, went on a rampage and ripped the stuffing out of Elvis Presley’s beloved bear, Mabel. 

 

The exhibit at Wookey Hole Caves, a popular holiday destination in Somerset, in southern England, included (past tense) 1,000 precious and pricey teddy bears, including Mabel (pictured right, before), the beloved bear of the King of Rock and Roll, singer of “I just wanna be your teddy bear”. The collection, valued at more than $900,000, also included (past tense) a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936, both also fell victim to violence in the workplace. The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis for $98,000, and is reportedly, “not very pleased at all.” He was also described as being, “hopping mad.” Don’t you love how polite the British are?

The collection was so valuable that the insurance company insisted the exhibitors guard it with dogs. Barney, a sleek and handsome Doberman, was dutifully dispatched. But, according to museum management it all went horribly wrong, when Barney inexplicably “went on a rampage” beginning with Mabel. Barney (who is apparently a Beatles fan) took a very large chunk out of Mabel almost severing her head, and then went mad. Dozens of other bears were shredded in the 20 minutes it took to get Barney under control.

Barney has subsequently accepted early retirement. Fortunately that is not a euphemism! Management obviously wanted him to be relieved of duty but insisted that they did not want anything “nasty” to happen to Barney. He will likely be going to a farm where he can “chase chickens.” For the chickens’ sake, I hope they’re more partial to Jerry Lee Lewis!

 

Barney & his boss surveying the aftermath

 

A couple of unwitting spokes-puppies have been put in the middle of a peculiar political debate taking place in the media in Colorado Springs.

 First, there’s Norman a brown and white spaniel puppy with large floppy ears, whose face is gracing buses and billboards and television commercials. Norman is like any other spaniel puppy – except that he moos. You see, Norman was born different. He is the face of borndifferent.com, which explains that just as 15% of the population is born left-handed, 3% of the population, according to researchers, is born gay.

Norman’s canine opponent is Sherman, a dog of unidentified breed who is featured, in a less extensive, rival advertisement campaign. Sherman barks. He, you understand, was born a dog. He would never moo. Furthermore, in the unlikely event he felt tempted to, Sherman would take active steps to “cure” himself of such unnatural impulses.

Norman and Sherman are pawns in the latest skirmish in the culture wars that continue to divide the US. Specifically, Norman the mooing spaniel is the creation of gay rights activists who support measures such as the right for gay couples to marry and receive the same protections as straight couples. The $900,000 Born Different campaign, funded by the Denver-based Gill Foundation, makes the argument that gay people are born gay and that to discriminate against them would be no different than discriminating against any other minority group.

“This is Norman. He’s just like every other dog except for one thing,” says the voiceover in the advert playing on the Born Different website, as Norman moos with cow-like confidence. “Norman never chose to be different. He was just born this way. Norman is not the only one in the Springs who is different.”

By contrast, Sherman is the creation of Focus On The Family, a conservative Christian organization based in Colorado Springs that strongly opposes gay marriage. FOTF is headed by James Dobson who is one of the most influential evangelists in the country, and wields considerable political power. He also counsels women not to work outside the home until their children have grown up and he warns that people should think long and hard before marrying a person of a different race.

“This is Sherman. He’s a dog,” says the ad on the FOTF website titled, No-Moo-Lies, as it shows the silhouette of what might be a basset hound on a page that looks remarkably like the Born Different website. “He barks. Why? Because that’s what dogs do.” It continues: “If he could talk he’d tell you to keep your eyes and ears open between now and November to make sure you hear the truth about what marriage should mean in Colorado. Sure, making a dog sound like a cow is cute, but messing with marriage, the building block of all societies, is not. Indeed, it would be a dog-gone shame.”

While we at Pop Art Pet found this to be interesting (and a little unsettling), the only commentary we have to add is, live and let live people! And for the love of dog, don’t drag unbiased animals into your silly human politics!

There has been a lot of interest in our previous post about a custody battle between hurricane Katrina evacuees and those who adopted the pets they left behind, so we thought an update was in order.

The case between the Couture family who left their dogs, Master Tank and Nila, behind when they fled the rising waters in Louisiana, and Pam Bondi who fostered, then later adopted Master Tank, has entered a holding pattern. The parties will be going to trial in November to determine who deserves custody of the former family pet. Ms Bondi claims Tank, who had heartworms when she took him in, had been clearly neglected even prior to Hurricane Katrina and is therefore better off with her. The Couture’s admit that Tank did have heartworms before the hurricane (the majority of pets who were rescued contracted heartworms in the storm’s aftermath), but claim that he already had heartworms when they adopted him at 10 months old and that he got monthly heartworm medicine. The Coutures have also been accused of abandoning the dogs to die in the flood. Not so, they say. Mrs. Couture and the two grandchildren evacuated before Katrina hit, but Mr. Couture stayed specifically to care for the dogs and the house. When the levees broke and the water rose, however, Mr. Couture had to be rescued by boat and was told he couldn’t bring the dogs. He left them in the house with food and water, expecting to be back soon. However, it was two weeks before anyone could re-enter the neighborhood and by then the dogs had been taken to an emergency animal shelter, and later transfered to the Pinellas Humane Society and adopted out.

While this case is far from over many, many more are underway. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah had 20 potential legal situations while trying to match up owners and foster groups. They managed to resolve about half of them with cooperation of all parties, but currently have five situations that are proceeding to court. There have also been refusals to return pets whose ownership was clearly documented and confirmed by judgments, by the fosters who firmly believe the pets weren’t being cared for correctly.

Cases like these are being closely watched by animal rights activists and animal law experts, who say judges could carve new precedent if they consider a pet’s best interests when deciding who gets custody rather than just considering pets to be “property”. This would obviously be a big step forward for animal rights.

We at Pop Art Pet will continue to keep you informed.

 

By now we’ve all heard about the famous painted cows of Chicago, credited with bringing art to the herds of people on the street ..

Well once again, Art has gone to the dogs (fortunately for us, or we would be out of a job)! Currently right here in Colorado, Aspen to be exact, celebrities have unleashed their artistic talents on life-size Labrador Retriever sculptures.

Goldie Hawn, Johnny Depp, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon are just a few of the stars who picked up a brush to showcase their painterly talents. The completed collection of colorful canines they’re calling “Best In Show” are now on display throughout Aspen, Snowmass Village, and Basalt and will later be auctioned off with all proceeds to benefit educational programs in Aspen.

This blue beauty was painted by Anjelica Huston.

Mariah Carey’s contribtion, featuring butterflies (of course)

You can click here to view a complete list of celebrities who participated and see photos of their submitted painted Labrador Retrievers.

Boy attacked by pet crocodile:
Earlier this week a 12-year-old boy survived an attack by a crocodile that was being kept as a pet on the Philippine island of Mindanao. The seven-foot reptile bit little Ramon Palmares on the arm after the boy poked it and threw pebbles, said officials in Cotabato City. It is of course illegal to keep wildlife as pets according to Philippine law and an international convention on endangered species, so the crocodile and his friend, a pet python living in the same house, were confiscated by authorities and their owner will be charged with violating the wildlife law and endangering children. He will likely also be sued by the injured boy’s parents. The way we see it, it’s just too bad that the crocodile can’t sue his guardian for illegal imprisonment, and the boy for assault! At the very least he should be able to plead self-defense!

Human run over by dog:
A police dog named Ranger in Ogden, Utah was left in a pickup truck with the engine running so that he would have air conditioning while his handler responded to a domestic disturbance call,  and apparently knocked the vehicle into gear and ran a woman down. Mary F. Stone, 41, was hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and tailbone.

The police man said Ranger must have hit the shift on the steering column, putting the automatic transmission into gear. As the truck slowly rolled forward, police officers yelled to Stone, but she couldn’t get out of the way in time. A front and rear tire ran over her. “She had tire marks on her clothes,” her husband said. Then the truck then went through the Stones’ yard and struck a vehicle in the driveway. Afterward police were trying to determine if there might have been some malfunction that would have allowed the gear shift to be moved easily.

The way we see it, that’s some kind of malfunction.. you usually have to pull back pretty hard on a standard gear shift then push it down, and in many models you have to put a foot (not a paw) on the brake. We suspect foul play! But just in case something like this happens to you, you may want to get your dog a drivers license.

And for those long drives be sure he takes along some bacon flavored, bottled water to quench his thirst. A man in Australia, Andrew Larkey, is behind the brilliant idea to distribute “Aqua Dog,” in beef, chicken, and bacon flavors. He said the idea was obvious since clearly the fastest growing markets in supermarkets and stores everywhere were bottled water for humans and high-value pet treats. Selling for nearly 3 dollars (2.20 US dollars) per bottle, the canine drink is more expensive than mineral water for humans. But in a nation of dog lovers, it is flying off the shelves. He will probably be a very rich man soon!

 

Sure your dog is well-behaved, she can sit and stay and even show off in front of your friends and give you a high five. But is she environmentally conscious? If not, why not?

Below are instructions & tips on how to teach your dog to deposit paper recyclables into the recycling bin.

Sit – Stay – Okay
First things first, if your dog does not know how to Sit & Stay you’ll need to teach him or her that first. The following should work.
• Stand over the dog and say “Sit!” while pointing to the ground with one hand and pushing their back down gently with the other hand. Immediately reward with praise & petting – no treats yet.
• If your dog starts to move, say “Stay!” and gently push them back to the same spot & sitting position.
• Then say “Okay!” and reward your dog with some praise and gentle playing.
• Repeat these steps until your dog learns to “Sit!” down and “Stay” until it’s “Okay” to move.
• Keep these training sessions short and gradually give the orders from farther and farther away.

Hold – Drop
Once you and your dog have mastered Sit & Okay, pick a toy that your dog likes to hold in his or her mouth.
• Make your dog sit and give them the toy and say “Hold!”
• If your dog drops the toy, say “No!” and give it back while saying “Hold!”
• Then say “Drop!” and immediately offer a treat in exchange for the toy. When your dog drops the toy, reward them with the treat and lots of praise.
• Repeat the “Sit,” “Hold,” “Drop,” reward bit until your dog totally gets it.

Go – Drop
• Place a low recycling bin in the corner.
• Make your dog “Sit” by the bin and give them something to “Hold.”
• Say “Go Drop!,” while pointing to the bin. Then lift your dog into a standing position and encourage them to drop the item into the bin by offering a treat in exchange. Reward them with lavish praise & petting when they get it right!
• Repeat trying different objects to drop into the recycling bin and giving the “Go Drop” command farther and farther away from the bin. 

Tips:
• If your dog is not successful three out of four times, the session is probably too hard and you just need to go back one step.
• During training, say only the commands and praise, and always speak in a clear voice.
• Make sure there are as few distractions as possible.

If you are patient and make learning fun instead of making it “obedience” oriented, your dog will soon be recycling for you and making the world a better place!

 

 

 

Summer is in the air, and what’s better in the Summertime than driving your convertible to the lake for a picnic? This big bear cub agrees!

He looks like he’s in his natural habitat in this vintage red Buick convertible in a Lake Tahoe neighborhood, in Stateline, Nevada. The bear drew a crowd of spectators as it munched on barbecue-chicken-and-jalapeño pizza in the back seat of the 1964 Buick Skylark. It also apparently washed it down with a swig of a Jack Daniel’s mixer, an Absolut vodka and tonic, and a beer taken from a cooler – I hope they didn’t let him drive home after that! Now that’s a great way to spend a Summer day! The bruin was not even fazed by the car’s horn that blew nonstop as the cub pressed the seat into the steering wheel.

What’s better than a picnic? A day at the beach! Especially for these newly hatched Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles.

Things are looking up for these little guys who were formerly on the extinction watch list. Habitat protection and financial support from Mexican and U.S. wildlife agencies, as well as the fishing and shrimping industry, have resulted in a bumper crop of the still endangered sea turtles. Last year, almost 631,000 hatchings were released compared to 48,000 recorded in 1978. Yay!

Here are more amazing animals enjoying the Summer season!

(yes, that parrot is playing soccer and those elephants are at a drive in)

Two dogs that survived Hurricane Katrina are at the center of a custody battle between their old owners in New Orleans and their new ones in Florida.

Master Tank and Nila were owned by Steven and Dorreen Couture who had to evacuate their Louisiana home, leaving the dogs at a local animal shelter. Their house was destroyed and the Coutures were unable to return until five weeks later, when they learned their dogs had been put up for adoption. It wasn’t until months later that they found out Master Tank and Nila had been sent to The Pinellas Humane Society along with 288 other animal refugees. 
 
The Coutures said when they learned in January that the dogs were in Pinellas County, they tried for months to get help. They finally got a response in March when Dr. Kenny Mitchell, Pinellas County’s director of veterinary services, got a copy of a Humane Society spreadsheet listing their dogs. They had been adopted by residents of Florida. The documents also noted that Steven Couture was their owner of record.

The Coutures came to Florida last week trying to get their dogs back, but the new owners say the dogs were adopted legally and are refusing to give them up. Tampa prosecutor Pam Bondi adopted Master Tank, a St. Bernard she renamed Noah. She said she saved the dog’s life. “I legally fostered and adopted a dying dog who had a serious medical condition that long predated the hurricane,” Bondi said. “Had he been properly cared for, I would have been driving him back to New Orleans myself.” The Coutures lost their home in the August hurricane. They say the dogs lived outside but dispute that they were neglected. They say they were treating Master Tank for heartworms. Dunedin resident Rhonda Rineker, who is listed as having adopted Nila, declined to comment.

Steven Couture said he took the dogs to a shelter before the family evacuated with the promise he could get them back. This is why the Coutures blame the Pinellas Humane Society. The family contends that the agency never sent them a letter before the dogs were adopted, a county requirement. The attorney for the Humane Society said, “Our job was to take care of the animals,we did our best to find owners. We don’t have any custody over them. They were adopted out. We believe we acted appropriately at all times and we are comfortable with the things we did.” As a result of the Coutures’ dilemma, Pinellas County adopted an ordinance on June 20 that would make all adoptions conditional for up to 120 days after the date of the state of emergency declaration. It will give people who may be in a situation like the Coutures more time to recover their animals.

Steven Couture said at a news conference he might consider legal action to contest the adoptions. He said his two grandchildren have lost their parents and their home in the past several years. “The only thing they have is these dogs and us, they want the dogs back. It should have never happened.”

Please don’t let this discourage you from adopting – but there are likely many other stories like this since the tragedy of Katrina devastated the pet population in Louisiana as it did. We at Pop Art Pet were so moved that we felt we had to do something. That’s when we learned about Pasado’s Safe Haven. They were unlikely heroes, since they are a relatively small shelter and located in Washington, pretty far-removed from the Gulf Coast. Still, they were one of the first groups to arrive and begin pet rescue efforts. 

And they stayed, and brought in more people, and more resources and rescued 1200 animals! We were so impressed with their action we set out to do what we could to help.

 

 

 

 

 

We pledged to donate 100% of profits from Traditional Style portrait sales, initially for one week in September. But as days passed and the stories and images from New Orleans actually became more disturbing of pets left behind, we knew that was not enough. We sent care packages to volunteers and extended our promotion for an additional five weeks. And thanks to the support of our wonderful and caring customers who purchased portraits during that time to help us, help Pasado, help those animals, we were able to donate nearly $2,500! And not to pat ourselves on the back, but for a tiny little company we felt very good about that!

Since then we have continued to support Pasado’s Safe Haven, a wonderful organization.     We donated artwork and custom portraits to their “Dog Bowl” this year, and met and immortalized Carmen, a happy Black Lab adopted by some very generous Pasado supporters!  

Our ability to raise funds to help animal charities, big and small, local and national, is one of the most rewarding things about this business and one of our top priorities. So we want to thank all our clients past and present for allowing us to do so. In fact, maybe we’ll make July “Client appreciation month!” Stay tuned for details…

In the meantime, please visit Pasado’s Safe Haven’s site and learn more about them. And here are some of our other favorite animal shelters we love to support and hope you will too:

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Max Fund

Dumb Friends League

Did you know that tomorrow, Friday June 23rd is a national holiday? It’s “Take Your Dog To Work Day!”

According to its organizers, several thousand companies are expected to participate, up from a few hundred when the event began eight years ago. Workplace policies allowing dogs on the job are becoming more popular as some surveys have shown that it lowers absenteeism, improves morale, and helps build bonds among workers and even with clients.

Pet-friendly environments can apparently pay off in a competitive job market, as more than 400 of America’s most successful companies, including Google Inc., have taken this step. Also, a survey by Simply Hired and Dogster, found a third of dog-owners would take a 5 percent pay cut to take their pets to work, two-thirds would work longer hours and half would switch jobs. So, if your company isn’t participating this year in Take Your Dog To Work Day, maybe you need to educate your boss!

Pet Sitters International is the organization who started TYDTWD, with the intention of raising awareness of animals in need of homes – a cause we certainly share. All the positive side-effects have really just been a happy accident. Now maybe they can help dogs on the job form a union and get a 401K plan!