Taking Your Poodle On Vacation

If you are going to be Taking Your Poodle On Vacation  make sure you have a second checklist for any and all of your dogs needs as well as your own.  It's difficult enough to remember all of the things you will need for yourself and your kids on the trip, let alone for your pet.

Packing for a pet should be just like packing for a child and you should make a list of all of the important items that you will need on the road.

This poodle loves to travel to NYC

Safety Tips For Taking Your Poodle On Vacation

Medicines - Before you travel, make a visit to your vet. You have to ensure if your pet is in good health before traveling. Also ask your vet to give you a list of medications that you may need when you are traveling. If your pet is on some medications make sure to pick up some refills.
Train your pet with the Kennel or Carrier - Before traveling, make sure you train your pet to be comfortable with the Kennel or Carrier. The kennel is the safest way for your pet to travel. It is mandatory in most flights to carry your pet in a carrier or a kennel. Also some hotels, would want you to keep your pet in the kennel when you are out of your room.
Food bowl and Can Opener - It is best to keep your pet on the same diet that he or she is accustomed to. It will prevent your pet from getting sick in the stomach. If your pet likes to eat canned food, then you should have an opener to feed him/her. Make sure you feed water regularly to keep your pet hydrated.
Cleaning supplies - Carry a good quality lint brush and some stain removers. Always clean up as much as you can before you leave a room.

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When Taking Your Poodle On Vacation take along some photographs of your dog so you will have them ready just in case the dog goes missing.  You will need to post signs or get a picture out to the local shelter quickly.  Also, keep note of your tag numbers and microchip number as well.

Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss?

Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss?  Are your greeted each day with a wet sloppy "kiss" from your poodle or dog?  It is rather instinctive to dogs and there are several reasons why this is very common among our canine companions. 

It's not just "puppy love" as they say.  There is some truth to that assumption that your poodle is expressing love and affection when it licks your face or hand.   But don't forget that dogs experience the world through their mouth and their nose.   I know that Lucy is so happy to see me every day that I get a wet sloppy greeting from her on my face.  I think it's part affection and part respect.  In a way, I think she is letting me know I am in charge.  In the wild, the more subordinate dogs will lick the pack leaders.   Sometimes Lucy will lick me when someone comes into the house she does not know.  This sort of lets the person know that I am important to them.

Lucy, our poodle,  licking my face

For one thing, the licking process is learned early on in dogs from the mother.  The mother will lick it's newborn pups to stimulate them and get them to begin breathing, as well as getting them cleaned up a bit.  The licking process is an instinctive one and it goes back to when they were born.
Poodles like to lick their human friends because we taste good.  In actuality, our skin is slightly salty and our glands are constantly emitting our scent along with salt.  Dogs get information from their nose and we are unconsciously giving information to our poodles all of the time.

Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss?

Taken from petplace.com, the following excerpt offers a perspective on the question of why poodles like to lick people.

I don't believe dogs express their sometimes quite profound feelings for their owners by licking or "kissing." In fact, I don't believe dogs really "kiss" at all. Perhaps some dogs are so awed by their owners that they feel the need to signal their ongoing deference by face licking. Call it love, if you will.

One other thing we should always bear in mind is that any behavior can be enhanced learning. Psychologist BF Skinner immortalized the concept that reward increases the likelihood of a response. So it is with licking. If a dog licks his owner's face – perhaps as a vestige of maternal lip licking, perhaps out of anxiety, or just because his owner's face tastes salty – and his behavior is greeted with attention, hugs and (human) kisses, he will likely repeat the behavior in future. In such cases the dog learns just how to push he owners buttons and the owner becomes analogous to a vending machine.

So while face licking may not represent true romantic love, it nevertheless can sometimes be interpreted as some token of a dog's affection or respect ... and that's nothing to sniff at.

Original story may be found here

I wonder Does Your Poodle Like To Lick And Kiss as much as mine does?  Probably so, I would imagine.  It's a sign of loyalty and respect as well as affection.  But what does your poodle get out of the act of licking?  Well, for many dogs, licking releases pleasurable endorphins which gives dogs a sense of comfort and pleasure.  It offers a release of stress for the animal.  If it is compulsive or it is getting to be a bit too much for you, just get up and walk away, or just ignore the licking.  If every time your poodle or dog begins to lick you and the petting stops and you get up and ignore the dog, it will most likely subside, little by little.

Having A Career Working With Poodles

As a pet owner, have you ever thought about Having A Career Working With Poodles?   There are a lot of jobs you can do and still work with and be around dogs.  If nothing else, you can start by getting a job in a pet store.  From there you can begin to look around at other opportunities as well.

Some jobs occupations demand years of study and training and some do not.  For example, getting a job as a veterinary technician requires you to go to have a 4-year bachelor's degree and a 2-year associates degree.

Training Poodles and dogs for a living can be a rewarding career

Working With Poodles As A Living

Here's what the Bureau of Labor Statistics had to say about the requirements of becoming a Veterinary Technician.

What Veterinary Technologists and Technicians Do

Veterinary technologists and technicians perform medical tests under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian to treat or to help veterinarians diagnose the illnesses and injuries of animals.

Work Environment

Veterinary technologists and technicians work in private clinics, laboratories, and animal hospitals. Their jobs may be physically or emotionally demanding. Many technologists and technicians may have to work evenings, weekends, or holidays.

How to Become a Veterinary Technologist or Technician

Veterinary technologists and technicians must complete a postsecondary program in veterinary technology. Technologists need a 4-year bachelor’s degree, and technicians need a 2-year associate's degree. Typically, both technologists and technicians must take a credentialing exam and must become registered, licensed, or certified, depending on the state.

Pay

The median annual wage of veterinary technologists and technicians was $29,710 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of veterinary technologists and technicians is expected to grow 52 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations. Job opportunities are expected to be excellent, particularly in rural areas.

Above from United States Department of Labor

If this is too ambitious a career choice for you to undertake, then consider a career as a dog walker.  Dog walking businesses have been springing up all over the place and there is a real need for a qualified dog walker who can walk dogs in your neighborhood for people who are out all day and can't care for their pets at home.
Keep in mind, of course, that this is not a hobby and it is a real profession.  You need to be a professional.  You will either run it yourself or hire employees, who also need to be qualified to handle the tasks associated with dog walking and dog care.  You will need to be insured and bonded and run it just like any other business.

Other Options Of Having A Career Working With Poodles

What about any special passions or skills you may have?  Do you love to take pictures or are you a good photographer?  How about a career as a Pet Photographer?  There are those who specialize in pet photography who go out and do shoots of people's animals and family members at events and at their homes, as well as those who do shoots for websites and trade magazines.  If you are really good at timing the shot and capturing the personality of the animals you are working with, then you will probably be successful.  Practice on your own poodle or pet and make some homemade holiday cards and sell them to people you know.
Another idea is to make your own home cooked pet treats.  Look around and you will probably see that there are a lot of pet bakeries that have opened up their doors for business.  I know of several and there are dozens of such businesses in Manhattan, in New York.  Are you a good cook and like to bake homemade treats?  Why not come up with some good recipes for dogs and have a little pet treat business?   You can distribute them to your local pet stores or grooming salons.  There is always a need for healthy snacks for poodles and people like to buy quality treats.

Working With Poodles As A Trainer

Becoming a dog trainer or a trainer who specializes in Poodles could be a great career.  I know that my dog trainer is as busy as she can be, dealing with dozens of animals each and every week.  She goes out to the home and sometimes they come to her for classes in groups.  My wife and I took our miniature poodle to a group class many times, when she was a puppy.  You can make some good money as a trainer. 

Of course, you will need to study and go through training yourself to acquire all of the skills necessary.  You will also likely need a dog trainer certification, although it may not be required, depending on where you live.  Most dog trainers are basically self-taught and since it is a "service-based" vocation, you will be dealing with people as much as you will be dealing with dogs.
Doggy Day Care is another way to make a living and still be around the animals you love.  You can begin by working at a local doggy day care facility in your area and if you really are ambitious, you can decide to eventually start your own doggy day care business or start one with a business partner.

Becoming a Pet Sitter is another way to break into the dog business.  Look into what the requirements are about bonding and insurance and find out what you need to do.  I know of a former vet tech, who is doing extremely well with his dog and cat sitting business.  He's so busy, it has become a full time deal with many clients and repeat clients coming to him for his pet sitting services.

As you can see, Having A Career Working With Poodles and other animals can be the opening for a rewarding and lucrative future.  And you will be doing what you love, which is being around animals.

What to do if your Poodle eats the cat poop

A reader recently asked me about What to do if your Poodle eats the cat poop.  Maybe you don't have a cat, but it's very common among pet owners with a dog and a cat.  Poodles and other dogs actually like to eat the cat's feces.  Apparently it has a high fat content and is somehow tasty to a lot of puppies and dogs.

Keeping our mini poodle out of the litter pan was a full time job for a while

When we first got our miniature poodle and she was a young puppy, she discovered that there were these strange "goodies" to be gotten out of the litter.  We kept trying to move the litter pan around and put a lid on it, but Lucy, being such a small poodle, she was able to get through the small opening.  There are reasons why dogs and poodles may be drawn to consuming cat feces.  Here's a possible explanation from The Dog Trainer website.

Why Do Dogs Eat Other Animals' Poop?

Cat feces probably attracts dogs because cat food is higher in fat and protein than dog food, and consequently cat feces is too. As for why dogs like horse and cow manure and goose droppings, your guess is as good as mine. Dogs like plenty of things we humans don’t – when was the last time you rolled in a dead squirrel, grinning your fool head off the whole time? My best guess is that dogs just plain find feces tasty.
Eating Feces Can Be a Sign of Illness

Not all coprophagy is normal or harmless.  Dogs who suffer from malabsorption syndromes, such as exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, sometimes eat stool, including their own. They may be trying recover the nutrients they can’t absorb in normal digestion.

Some horrible nutrition studies have been done on dogs; I’ll skip the details. Let’s just say that coprophagy might develop in a dog with a history of severe nutritional deficiency.(2)  “She’s eating a low-quality diet” is often thrown around as an explanation for a pet dog’s coprophagy, and maybe these studies are the ultimate source of that idea. I have to admit I’m a bit obsessive about my dogs’ food, but leery though I am of most commercial diets I sincerely doubt they’re anything like what the dogs in these studies got. All the same, if your dog eats her own and other dogs’ poop, and you’re buying the 50-pound sacks of whatever chow is cheapest at your local warehouse store, food of better quality might be worth a try.

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Our vet assured us that it wasn't anything to worry about and that Lucy was not going to get sick.
Although, he did say to try to discourage her from getting at the cat box.

Poodle Safety Tips For Your Cookout

Memorial day starts off the season for backyard barbecues and cookouts so here are some important Poodle Safety Tips For Your Cookout to keep in mind. Poodle Safety Tips For A Barbecue We found some good advice in a post on Petside.com about making sure your pets and pooches are safe during the holiday festivities. Here is some of what they had to say.
1. Don't let your pets taste any of the food.
Dr. Louis Murray, Director of Medicine and Interim Director of the ASPCA Bergh memorial Animal Hospital in New York City, explains, "Pets are very sensitive to changes in their diets." To make things worse, pancreatitis, a serious and potentially fatal inflammation of the pancreas, is often caused when pets eat "greasy, spicy, fatty foods--exactly what people eat at barbecues," says Dr. Murray.
"Remember," she says, "even if you are conscientious about not giving your pet barbecue food, you can't control your guests, especially children. It's almost impossible to resist when a dog begs, especially if it's not your dog." So, even though it seems like a bummer, your pet is better off in a bedroom, with an air conditioner, some cold water, and the door closed, safe and sound, away from all that food and temptation.

2. Keep pets away from the garbage.

Barbecues on Memorial Day and other holidays often lead to trash bags full of bones and other unsafe items that are extremely attractive to pets, says Dr. Murray.

5 More Memorial Day Safety Tips

If your dog chews on real bones, especially cooked bones, which break more easily--bones and bone fragments may become lodged in his palate, esophagus, stomach, or intestines, causing pain and frequently requiring surgery. Bones can even pierce pets' digestive tracts and cause a serious abdominal infection called peritonitis.

Source

If you keep in mind these Poodle Safety Tips For Your Cookout you will have a happy healthy pet during the cookout season. Another important tip is to avoid taking your dog to any fireworks displays and keep them inside if you should use any fireworks in your own back yard.

Poodle Ear Cleaning And Hair Plucking

Poodle Ear Cleaning And Hair Plucking needs to be done regularly for your poodle's ear health. The ear canal is a dark, warm and moist environment and is prone to ear infections unless steps are taken to prevent this from happening.
The best and simplest method is to simply pluck a few hairs at a time from the ears while your dog is laying on it's side. Do not try to get rid of more than a hair or two at a time. Otherwise it can cause the ears to bleed and it is also very painful.
If you have a Poodle, whether it is a toy, miniature or standard, it is very important that Cleaning Your Poodle Ears is a regular part of your routine each month. If you are getting your dog or dogs groomed each month, as I tend to do, make sure that the groomer is checking the poodle's ears for hair and removing all of it. In between grooming appointments, you may find that the hair is growing back so quickly that you have to keep up with it at home more than once a month.
Get into the habit of checking your poodle's ears frequently, just to look inside the ear and give it a smell. Look for any signs of infection or dark brown discharge. If the ears smell very bad or you do see any discharge, you should call the vet and have it checked right away. Another sign that your pup may have some ear problems is if he or she is scratching the ears often or holding it's head to the side often. Poodle Ear Cleaning And Hair Plucking After you have gotten rid of the hair in the ears, you want to use a cotton ball and gently wipe and clean the inside of the ear. I do not suggest using a q-tip because there is the possibility of damaging the ear or the eardrum. Just use a cotton ball with a few drops of a cleaning solution. Some suggest rubbing alcohol, but this may be too harsh. You can dry a few drops of white vinegar mixed in with a cup of water and just swab the ears to clean them.
Symptoms of a problem: If your dog has a brown material in the ear, shakes its head regularly and even cries when the head is shaken then suspect an infection or worse yet, a foxtail in the ear. The ear may smell bad as well. You may need veterinary help to get the problem under control. Treatment of infections: If your dog has a mild infection it can usually be cleared up by cleansing the ear and putting a drying agent into the ear twice a day for about a week. If there is hair in the canal you must remove it. If the problem is not resolved or gets worse you will need to see your Veterinarian . If your dog has frank pus in the ear then you should immediately seek veterinary help and not delay with the above series of steps. Before any antibiotics, either systemically or topically, are used a culture must be taken to be sure that the antibiotic is the correct one for that particular infection. Be VERY careful of what antibiotics are used as many can damage the hearing of your dog. Be sure to discuss this with your veterinarian. Some of the topical drugs often induce allergies so also discuss this with your veterinarian. Most of the "mycins" can quickly damage hearing.
Allergies: Some dogs have multiple skin allergies, allergic diarrhea, flea allergies, and some even have frequent sneezing and scratching. This type of dog frequently also has a chronic ear problem. The ear leathers may be red and itchy. There may even be hives on the ears. If this is the case you need to find what your dog is allergic to, be it an environmental problem or a food or they type of shampoo you are using on the dog, or a flea product. You may need the help of a Veterinary Dermatologist. As long as your dog has a topical allergy problem you will not be able to clear up the irritated ear problem.
Fungus infections: Because the ear canal is dark and damp some dogs develop a chronic fungus infection. This should NOT be treated with steroids, as it will make the fungus infection worse. Some veterinarians attempt to treat an allergic dermatitis with steroids and this usually results in an overgrowth of fungus in the ear. The treatment of a fungus infection is dry, dry, dry, and then perhaps a topical fungus medicine. Usually keeping the ear DRY and acidic will clear up the fungus infection.
For the serious chronic ear infection it may be necessary to put the dog on a rigorous program of twice a day cleansing with TRIS-EDTA solution mixed with an antibiotic such as Baytril plus systemic antibiotic for as long as as six weeks. Your veterinarian may recommend a short course of topical steroid drops to reduce the inflammation and swelling so that the dog will be more comfortable until the infection gets under control. Another good topical ear drop that is in use has a combination of antibiotic and silver such as "Baytril otic".
Swimming and bathing: If your dog loves the water make sure that after every session of swimming you clean the ears and put a drying agent into them. If you keep your dog with long thick ear hair, then you must be sure that the ear hair is also dry when you put the drying agent into the ear canal. When I bathe my dogs I always pour dilute shampoo into the ear canals, massage the ears and head and then rinse very well with the spray nozzle. I find that this REALLY cleans out the ears and I have not had an ear infection since starting the routine of shampooing into the ear canals and then using the Ear Relief Wash followed up by the Ear Relief Dry.
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The information in the paragraphs above comes from parispoodles.com and should provide some additional tips and helpful advice on Poodle ear cleaning and hair plucking, and why it is so important.

Live longer and better with a Poodle

It is true! You will probably live longer and better with a Poodle, than without one. Having a pet like a poodle or another kind of a dog will offer you more than just a sweet pair of eyes looking up at you in the morning. Studies have actually shown that growing up with pets can help reduce the risk of allergies to an adult later on in life. Live longer and better with a Poodle "The old thinking was that if your family had a pet, the children were more likely to become allergic to the pet. And if you came from an allergy-prone family, pets should be avoided," says researcher James E. Gern, MD, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. However, a growing number of studies have suggested that kids growing up in a home with "furred animals" -- whether it's a pet cat or dog, or on a farm and exposed to large animals -- will have less risk of allergies and asthma, he tells WebMD. In his recent study, Gern analyzed the blood of babies immediately after birth and one year later. He was looking for evidence of an allergic reaction, immunity changes, and for reactions to bacteria in the environment. If a dog lived in the home, infants were less likely to show evidence of pet allergies -- 19% vs. 33%. They also were less likely to have eczema, a common allergy skin condition that causes red patches and itching. In addition, they had higher levels of some immune system chemicals -- a sign of stronger immune system activation. See the original story here I can easily say that I am more likely to live longer and better with a Poodle than without one. My poodle gives me so many gifts and shares love with everyone she encounters. I am definitely getting lots of walks and fresh air with her. I know it's a win-win situation for all of us, her included. I love my poodle and am grateful for her.