The Dumb Dog.com Blog

The answer has nothing to do with money.  You purchase some Dog Frisbees from my site.  Who is my customer? Why it is the dog of course!  If the dog is not happy, the dog owner is not happy, and they won’t come back to buy more goodies.

Who is your Customer?  There are many in your everyday life at work and home.  Your customer is the person who is downline from you.  Example: the Post Office can’t deliver a package unless I have correct address and postage is applied.  I am the customer of you, the buyer.  I can’t do my job unless I get the correct address to ship to.

Look at you business and your job.  How many examples of Who is your Customer can you come up with?  How many instances can you find where you are the customer from those who are upline from you?  When you think about it, this makes the Janitor as important as the CEO in any organization.  As I said, money has nothing to do with this question, but has everything to do with job performance, and it might even get you a raise!

I wish I had come up with idea, but it came from an article I read in Business School back in the 80’s.   I apologize that I do not have the author’s name as it deserves credit where credit is due.  It is a lesson I never forgot, and I strive to serve the customer,  whomever they may be.

Be sure to give your pup ear rubs from me.

This is a fun trick that your dog probably already knows.  This trick is
from one of the cards in the board game My Dog Can Do That!

Have your dog sit. Then have him lie down.  From the down position, have the dog sit, then lie down. Do this three times and the dog has done 3 doggie pushups!  For the advanced dog trainer, do this without verbal commands.  Use the palm of your hand facing up for the sit command, and palm facing down for the down command.

Be sure to give them treats and ear rubs from me.

Next blog subject? An easy way to clean muddy feet!

I get information from different dog email groups on Yahoo! Groups.

This one I thought important enough to pass along:

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If you have a dog … PLEASE read

This and send it on. If you don’t Have a dog, please pass along to friends who do.

Written by:

Laurinda Morris, DVM

Danville Veterinary Clinic

Danville , OH

This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1AM on Wednesday but the owner didn’t call my emergency service until 7AM.

I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn’t seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me - had heard something about it, but … anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 & 1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.

The dog’s BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of fluids. At the point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care.

He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values have continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn’t control his vomiting. Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220 … He continued to vomit and the owners elected to euthanize.

This is a very sad case - great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has a dog of this very serious risk.

Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler’s. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.

Onions, chocolate, cocoa and macadamia nuts can be fatal, too.

Even if you don’t have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them.

Confirmation from Snopes about the above!

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Watch out for those treats you give your dog, and be sure to give them ear rubs from me.

Here is a neat trick, that once established, you can make a new spot in 1 minute or less.  What is GOTO Your Spot?  Simply put, it is a place or location where you want your dog to go and park themselves and enjoy being in one spot.  You probably have already mastered this trick and don’t even know it.  I’ll explain that later.

Let’s get to the training;

Pick a spot where you want to park the dog, say somewhere in the Living Room. It could be a corner, next to your chair, near the TV.  It does not matter, but make sure it is a Spot they can call their own.  Call the dog to that Spot and have them lie down.  Reward with a treat or toy.  Tell them this is their spot. If they get up, say  “GOTO Your Spot!” Grab the collar, and lead them back to that Spot, them have them lie down again.  Reward with a treat or toy.  This may take 5 times or 20 times, but they will learn where their Spot is.

All it takes is learning this command in one room.  Once mastered, you can establish Spots in other rooms.  You can use the same command, or just tell them where you want them to go.  The Spot in the computer room?  All I say is “Computer Room” … he knows where to go.

As I said, you probably have already mastered this trick and didn’t realize it.  What do you say when you take the dog for a ride in the car? “Get in the Car”? “Go for a Ride?”  They jump in the car and lie down, right?  You just discovered a GOTO Your Spot command. Want another example?  What about bedtime?  I can say “Night Night” and Batai (my Border Collie) will go in his crate, another GOTO Your Spot command.

Once the command is mastered, you can go to a neighbors house, direct the dog to a Spot, tell them This is your SPOT and they will know exactly what to
do.  Your friends will be amazed with this simple trick.

Be sure to give your dog ear rubs from me.

People see me and my dog and the #1 comment I get is how well behaved my dog
is.  "Can you teach my dog to do that?" they ask

Sure, all you need to do is join your Neighborhood Watch Program.  You
should see the weird stares I get when I mention that.  No, you don’t
really need to join, although it is a good program.  My point being that
you should go out and walk your dog for 30 to 45 minutes.  And you should
do this everyday.

That is the time you work on the basics of obedience.  Need help with
training?  I have many books
and DVDs to
help out. While walking, you get to bond with your dog, explore the world, and
get exercise for you and your dog. Exercise for your dog is the best therapy
around.  It provides for a calm submissive state when they are home, and
they are more eager to please. Lastly, they become an obedient dog that others
will admire.

So what’s with the Neighborhood Watch program? Well, on your daily walks, you
observe. You find those neighbors that does not want dog poop in their yard. You
meet new friends, and you can tell when something is different, because it does
not fit that daily routine.

Don’t forget your dog leash and poop bags.  Now get out there and Walk
That Dog.  Be sure to give them ear rubs from me.

And that is the word "OK"

Now you need to teach your dog a release command.  That is a command to
tell your dog they have finished the command, to get unfocused to what you (or
they) are doing.  Now this is a needed command, just don’t choose the word
"OK" to do it.  

Here are the consequences:

• Dogs don’t know you are on the phone (well some do, but most don’t) 
  Say the word "OK" in a conversation and watch the dog take off.
• Same goes with talking to your neighbor.  If the dog hears you
  say  "OK" they do not know it was not directed at them, and
  off they go.
• My wife tells me it’s dinner time, so I’ll say "OK Dear". 
  Well, I just sent the dog to the house.

You see the dilemma.  Using everyday conversational words as commands
will not only confuse the dog, it can also produce unintended results.

When choosing a release command, but sure it is one that is not commonly used
in a human conversation.  Better still to come up with a dog voculably.

My favorite command is used by sheep herders. Since I own a Border Collie,
it’s a natural command:

That’ll DO!!

That’ll Do!! can mean many things, but the primary command means this: 
‘I’m telling you that you are done with what you are doing, now quit!’ That
includes herding animals, running through the house, begging, as well as usual
or unusual behavior.  The best part is that it is a dog specific
command.  You won’t confuse a dog if they hear That’ll Do!

I will introduce more commands later. All are designed to make life easier
for you and your dog.