Fun at the beach!

5 things you can do to keep your dog safe at the beach this summer.

We all love taking our dog on vacation with us however, we do need to give some thought to safety. Before I head out on an adventure with my dogs I evaluate whether the destination will be fun and safe for the dogs. There is nothing worst then realizing after you are there that it might have been better for Fito not to make this trip.  I am going to go over the five things to think about before taking a dog to the beach.

1-Is your destination dog-friendly?Check with the hotel and beaches to make sure Fido will not be spending all his time in the hotel room with you feeling bad that he is bored and neither of you has any fun. here are some great online tools that will give you great insight into how dog-friendly your destination is. BringFido.com is a great resource for hotels, restaurants, and events that are dog-friendly. Gopetfriendly.com will help you map out your trip with dog-friendly hotels, restaurants, and activities.

2-Check the temperatures. How hot will it be during your stay? Many dogs do not do well in warm temperatures be careful when taking short muzzled breeds such as English bulldogs, Boston Terriers, boxers, pugs because they overheat more quickly than long-snouted dogs. Use Weather.com or local weather apps to see what the weather will be before you head to the beach.

Watch for signs of overheating:

• Excessive or rapid panting and drooling
• Coordination problems
• vomiting or diarrhea
• Collapse / Lo9ss of consciousness

All dogs need plenty of fresh cool water ( not salty ocean water) and a place retreat under a beach umbrella or a tree. and remember the sand is hot and can scorch sensitive paws, so a blanket or towel for your dog to lay on is a must.

3-Can your dog swim? Not all dogs can or like to swim. If Fido is not a swimmer and does not like the water it may be hard to keep him cool, in this case maybe a trip to the mountains would be a better choice.

Even if Fido loves the water make sure to use a life jacket designed for dogs. We like the Ruffwear K9 Float Coat life jacket. This life vest as a convent handle on the top to make it easy to grab your dog if he is going too far out or gets picked up by a current.

4-Follow the beach rules, these are usually posted on dog-friendly beaches. The rules are different at each beach and can be different at different times of the year. Use  Bringfido to get a quick look at the rules for your beach destination. Some beach only allows dogs on the beach between certain hours or have you keep your dog leashed. Some beaches also off leash as long as the dog is under voice control. Bring lots of poop bags to pick up after Fido and make sure you fill in any holes he may dig.

5-Bring sunblock for your dog. Short-coated dogs, light colored and dogs with short summer haircut can sunburn the same as we humans.

Buy a sunscreen made for dogs. You can find these at local pet stores or online. Do not use sunscreens that contain zink because that can be toxic to dogs if ingested and avoid sunscreens that contain any kind of fragrance.

Don’t skimp on the ears and nose and anywhere else that receives direct sunlight. Reapply after swimming.

One more thing to think about is your dog’s training especially his recall if you are going to let him/her off leash. You may want to brush up on his recall before heading out. Letting your dog off leash is a big responsibility and to keep Fido safe you must be able to call him back to you.

Don’t Forget

If you decided this may not be the best vacation for  Fido Gwinnett Pet Watchers is always here to help with pet care. Fido can stay home and one of our sitters will come to your home and give Fido one on one attention and he can have a staycation,!

Rabbit Hill Park is located at 400 Rabbit Hill Rd, Dacula Ga 30019 and is at the cross roads of Rabbit Hill Rd and Hurricane Shoals Rd . You can also get to the park using Fence Rd.

Rabbit Hill Park has wonderful paths for walking or running. Also, they have a few youth soccer fields, baseball and softball fields, basketball courts, a sand volleyball court, a playground, pavilions, and several restrooms. The park has three different dog parks to suit your needs. One is for all dogs, one for larger dogs, and the last is for the small dogs. Inside the dog park areas there are dog friendly fountains and some agility play activities. It’s a great park for your whole family to enjoy!

My crew loves to walk the trails and play in the dog park here. The people who use the dog park, for the most part, are very responsible owners who pay close attention to their pet(s) and calm things down when the pups get rambunctious. Owners also tend to be very good about picking up after their pets which unfortunately isn’t the case at all dog parks.

Some of you may know that I have a young German Shepherd, Gabby, who loves the dog park! She especially loves Rabbit Hill since she has lots of friends to play with and there is even a group of German Shepherds and their owners that get together there. They even have their own Facebook page called the German Shepherd club of Rabbit Hill. How fun is that?!

Not only is this park close to my dogs and I, it’s definitely one of our favorites! Please let me know if this is helpful and what park you would like us to visit next.
If you are new to the dog park experience I suggest you read a great article from The Bark; Behavior; Dog Park Tips. When you know what to expect it will be a great experience for you and your best friend.

left to right; Lucy, Jake, Gabby, George

I used to feed my dogs Iams food. Thirty years ago when I first started training dogs, Iams and Eukanuba were considered  very good dog food .  Did you know that Iams and Eukanuba yep, Proctor and gamble. Back then I was training dogs for an organization called  Bad Dogs Inc. The owner Bob Moorefield, was a big believer in good nutrition.  Bob also  feeding a good food meant cleaning up less waste.

Over the years the formula for both Iams and Eukenuba has changed. I know that I don’t know everything there is to know about dog food but I do know enough that I no longer put  Iams no longer  on my list of good dog foods.

Both Iams and Eukanuba contain Ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is a fat preservative used in some dog foods that is controversial. Some of these fears are linked with the product also being used as a pesticide and in making rubber. Most experts agree that when use properly the  additive is not toxic. For this reason after repeated investigations the United States FDA has ruled the additive may be safely used in animal feeds when used according to regulations.

Read more about Ethoxyguin later …

If you live in the Lawrenceville, Buford, Sugar Hill, or Suwannee area and would like to have Amelia take care your pet(s) give me a call 404-819-3641 and we will set up a free consultation.

What a crazy day at Gwinnett Pet Watchers. We all knew that the snow was coming, but I don’t think any of us had any idea that everyone was going to head home at the same time. This caused absolute gridlock in the city of Atlanta Georgia.

Gwinnett pet watchers is a pet sitting company that covers Gwinnett County. Gwinnett County is a northern suburb of Atlanta. Most of our clients do not work here in Gwinnett, but work inside the perimeter.

Around 1 o’clock on January 28, 2014; my phone started ringing off the hook. Many of my clients were tied up in the traffic trying to get home; and they were worried about their pets. The roads in Lawrenceville, Buford, Dacula, Lilburn and Snellville were just fine. The biggest problem we were running into was the traffic around schools where parents were picking up their children.

We have four sitters that cover Gwinnett County. So we split the clients up and  used our knowledge of back roads to  stay away from all schools. We were able to get all  of our clients home and take care of their  four legged kids. Everyone  got out to use the bathroom. We gave them  fresh water and food and got them settle down to wait for their parents to come home.

Yet another good reason to have a relationship with a pet sitter. You never know when an emergency will strike and you will need help with your fuzzy little friends.

I don’t know if you have walked through any of our shelters lately, they are overflowing with pets who need homes. I hear the well meaning message from  rescue groups “don’t buy a puppy until all animals  in our shelters have homes.” While this is well meant it doesn’t address the root of the problem. We must put  puppy mills and backyard breeders out of business or  we will continue to fight a losing battle against the overpopulation in our shelters.

Many of you who know me know I think less government is better. However government should stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. That would include the elderly, children, and animals.

Obviously the laws that we have on the books right now either are not being implemented or just don’t work. It is time to make some changes. Good job New York, the state of Georgia could take a list lesson on this one.

However when I did my research on Freshpet Select I was very pleasantly surprised as it gets a five star rating! And you can buy it in most grocery stores!!

This product comes in a roll, I take it and stuff my dogs Kong’s and that is how I now serve them there dinner.  Not only do the dogs love this new twist at dinner time, it takes them a while to eat it, so I get a few min to unwind or in most cases fix my two legged family their dinner.

We give Freshpet Selects Four Paws Up!   Let us know if your dog likes it as much as ours.

Well it is definitely that time of year where people have gotten puppies for Christmas presents. They are totally adorable bundles of fur and love.  You took the time to pick the perfect puppy that will fit in with your family. You have spent days coming up with unique name for this wonderful new arrival. Now the real work starts. While the puppy is young it is the perfect time to instill the rules of the house to ensure a lifelong loving happy relationship.

The phones at Gwinnett Pet Watchers are ringing off the hook. New and existing clients are calling to get our help in raising their new puppy’s. This is one of our favorite times of the year. After all we get all the snuggles all the puppy breath without ever getting our shoes chewed on.

We have a special product called a potty break. We offer this service for all of Lawrenceville, Buford, Dacula ,Sugar Hill and Suwannee . We also offer this service to most of Loganville, Grayson and Snellville. We added the potty break to our line’s of  services when we realized there were a lot of people in Gwinnett County that are away from home for long periods of time Monday through Fridaybecause of their long commute to work . The potty break is ideal for the dog whose owner is at home in the morning, and in the evening to walk and give it plenty of attention. What we do is come in the middle of the day and get the pup to outside for a bathroom break.

People with new puppies use this service a little differently. Many will have us come in at 10 or 10:30 AM for the first break and then come back around 2 or 2:30 PM for the second break. With this schedule the puppy is only in its crate for 3 to 4 hours in between breaks. The client pays $10 per visit and in this example $20 per day. A price that is well worth the jumpstart to house training.

When the puppy gets to be about eight months old (like children each puppy develops at a different rate) we can usually move to one 30 minute walk. This gets the puppy out of its crate for a nice walk to get some exercise and to expel some energy. This  makes for a much happier experience for the owners when they come home from a long day at the office.

Call us today 404-819-3641 to  set up your free consultation. We can come up with the perfect plan for you and your new puppy.

With cold temps clients water pipe burst.

Yesterday while the temperatures were in the single digits and wind chills were even lower our crew was out visiting our four legged clients.

Amelia was making her rounds in Sugar Hill Georgia, when she made a stop to give a couple dogs who are crated a potty break. When she walked into the house she found that a pipe had burst in the ceiling and that part of the ceiling had collapsed on one of the dog crates. The poor dog was sitting in a puddle of water with water pouring down from the ceiling.

Amelia went into action; she got the dog out of the crate into a safe area. While she was doing that I was contacting the homeowner to find out where the main shutoff for her water was located. I then relayed that information to Amelia and she was able to shut the water off and stop any more damage.

Just another good reason to have a pet sitter/dog walker coming by daily to take care of your pets. If Amelia had not come by the water would’ve continued until the home owner made it home around 6 o’clock. Because we were there to give the pups a potty break we caught the problem at 1:30 PM.

Kudos to Amelia for doing a great job . Amelia  did everything right, taking care of the dogs, making sure they were safe first. Contacting the office so we could contact the owner to gain the information we need to protect our clients home .