Christmoose Poem

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! In the spirit of thankfulness, two of the staff - Jon and Jim S. - wrote a poem to start the holiday season in festive form. The poem's main character is a favorite white, deaf boxer named Moose.

The Tale of Christmoose

On Christmoose they say,
if you listen real hard.
You can hear a deaf boxer
Come fly through your yard.
He isn't so gentle,
He isn't so soft,
But he has two large newfies
who keep him aloft.

In his sleigh he has goodies
For all good girls and boys.
For boxer like beatings
They have no use for toys.
From Florida he hails
Lacking tail, lacking hearing,
But there's something about him
that is oh-so endearing.

He has boots, hat and beard,
A red coat on his back,
When he comes down the chimney,
You must give him a smack!
But if stickers you have
He will fly by in fear,
and then you must wait
a whole 'nother year.

If you spank him real good,
And his butt really stings
There is surely no end
to the treasures he'll bring.
When the gifts have been given
And you've tanned his hide,
It's back up the chimney
to continue his ride.

If you hear this tale
And follow words to the letter.
Your Christmoose Eve
will never be better.
You'll then hear him say
As he glides off your roof,
"Merry Christmoose to all,"
but it will sound like, "Woof! Woof!"

Creative, huh? Moose's mom laughed and laughed when she heard the rendition at YLD. Enjoy the start to your holiday season!

Peace,
Wendy

Congratulations to the winners of the YLD Thanksgiving raffle! The big winners are:

Bailey Paden - 10 day pass

Nick Higgins - 5 day pass

Bailey Gandelman - 5 day pass

Be on the look out for the Christmas raffle. YLD is raffling off a 20 day pass! All proceeds go to staff bonuses. Good luck!

Have a great day.
Wendy

Walking with distractions...

As we head into winter our walks may become a little more distracting. Squirrels are foraging for food, leaves are falling and this cold weather makes us furry creatures more frisky and alert. If you're having issues keeping your pups attention, or loose leash walking I have a few pointers that may help.

1. Practice loose leash walking inside your house. Yep, inside. Dogs don't naturally generalize. If we practice inside with less distractions we are able to hold our dogs attention for longer. Use lots of praise for good walking manners, and when she pulls the leash....stop. Wait for her to look back at you, sit or give some slack to the leash. Praise and continue....
   
   
2. Move to the deck or backyard and repeat step one. We have added a few distractions, but not enough to completely loose our furry friends attention. Make sure to praise the good behavior! It is easier to show the dog what we want by praising, than to correct. They want to please us...they love the attention and praise!
   
   
3. If we are consistent working and coaching steps one and two we should see some improvements...keep going, it's working! Practice makes perfect. Be patient and most of all have fun.

I hope everyone enjoyed the snow this morning...our pack sure did!

have a great weekend!

a tired dog is a happy dog...
mike

Cold Weather

Were you blessed to see the snow flurries yesterday about 1:30 PM? We were. This may be the start of a cold winter. Everyone at YLD would like to see at least four consecutive days of below freezing temperatures. Why? To kill fleas, ticks and other crawling critters for next year. Raleigh hasn't had sustained cold for long enough to kill such insects so the fleas and ticks are getting worse and worse each year. We're hoping for a break in that cycle.




Have a great day!

Wendy


Lady is ready for cold and snowy weather!

Do you ever sing the blues on Monday? Things like - do I have to wake up already? it's going to be HOW cold today? do I have to go to work?


I'm glad I work with dogs. They are always glad to see Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday...because they live in the moment. They enjoy the experience. They don't worry about tomorrow because for them there is never a tomorrow - there is only NOW!



I've been thinking about stress since I wrote yesterday's entry. Maybe, if we humans could live more fully in the NOW instead of in tomorrow or yesterday, we'd feel less stressed. I know that a certain amount of stress is motivating. I'm not talking about that kind. I'm talking the mindless, "wind up my insides until they hurt" kind of stress. Maybe I should try each day to enjoy a few NOW moments - to savor a sunrise (since I'm up early), or enjoy a crunchy walk through fallen leaves, or a few warm, quiet moments snuggling with my canines. At least in those moments, my gut turning stress would lower and I'd find the joy of NOW.


Here are some photos.


Here's Jim. He is a natural furnace so even on the coldest day of the year he is warm. As you can see all the dogs love Jim. He was supervising the bottom group when this was taken. Surrounding him include Hefner, Simon, Estelle, Darwin, Miles, and Lady Bug. What a bunch!



















Here are Hennah, Bentley, Slider, Darwin and Bubba. It was early afternoon so the pack was still waking up from naptime. Only Hennah and Darwin look focused and wide awake!













Finally, here are Ginger and Wrigley (brother/sister) chewing on each other's faces! In the background are Moose and Jesse M. The black lab walking towards the camera is Jasmine and I believe that is Beulah the bulldog drinking water. What fun all around!

Well, enough ruminating for today. Have a NOW kind of evening.



Peace,
Wendy

Holiday Stress

Holiday stress. We all feel it during this season whether you are like me and get your shopping completed before Thanksgiving or like Meg who won't finish until Christmas Eve. We all know the adverse effects of stress but often do little to combat it.

What about your canine companion? Do you ever think of their stress? As a dog daycare owner we often see signs of stress before the human family. Why you ask? Well, think of it, we spend as much as 10 awake hours with your canine on a regular basis. During the work week you can't spend that many awake hours with them (unless you have sleep issues). So, the staff and I are aware of doggie stressors.

Weekend visitor(s) = stress (even if the human(s) are a favorite with the canine)

Pregnancy = stress. The dog probably knew you were pregnant before you did because you SMELL different!

New home/apartment/hovel = stress.

Home life difficulties = stress.

Too few/too many/changing rules = stress.

Poor human leadership & human boundaries = stress.

New job/schedule/activities = stress.

New cat/dog in the home = stress.

Holidays = stress.

Unhappy, emotional, overwhelmed, hate job, etc. = stress.

Dogs prefer a regular schedule. Notice I didn't say rigid - just regular. They don't necessarily like surprises. They enjoy a variety of walks around the neighborhood not the same old one all the time. Regularity not rigidity.

Here at YLD we stick to a schedule. Wake up. Go potty. Eat breakfast. Rest. Welcome daycare dogs. Go outside. Play. Have nap. Go outside. Play. Eat dinner or go home. Rest. Go potty. Go to sleep. Do it all again tomorrow. The venue may stay the same but the pack of dogs varies from one day to the next. Regularity prevents or may curb stress in your canine companion.

Think about your dog's stress. It's important.

Peace,
Wendy

PS. More on stress later so we all have time to contemplate.

Thoughts about Tails

The weather was supposed to be bad today - rain and wind - so I thought we'd be spending most of the day inside. But, as luck would have it, the rain held off so we were able to be inside/outside. It was a fairly small pack - about 12 with my three. They were all good players and happy to be part of the weekend crew.

We had happy tails - gently waving. Non held stiff or tucked under the body. That's a sign to remember. Always ask yourself when meeting a new dog - where is the tail? If the tail is up over the back and rigid or tucked under be wary when approaching the dog - it is feeling stress. I think of tails as a warning system. A savvy person will watch the tails!

Here are some photos showing different tail positions.



Piper and Sugaree are facing right. Baxter and Emma are facing the camera. Baxter and Sugaree's tails are always curled. Piper's tail is at a good height. Emma's tail is a little rigid - something (probably the camera) has her a bit spooked. I'd watch her a bit to make sure she relaxes.

In this photo we have Lady, Daisy and Lady Bug in the foreground facing right. Daisy doesn't have a tail being a corgi so you have to read other body language to figure her out. But she looks good in this photo. Lady (in black) and Lady Bug (golden) have soft tails - kind of just hanging with a little movement. In the back moving to the left is Casey B. Her tail looks good. She is moving towards a human and other dogs who have happy, relaxed tails.

Hope this gives you something to think about. Let me know if you want more examples.

Peace,
Wendy

Today continued

Here's Molly. She is a happy young lady who attends daycare most Mondays and Fridays. She has an older brother, Jack, who also visits with her. His photo is below.






Here is Jack. He decided to relax a bit. The dogs aren't usually allowed in the chairs but they sometimes slip in. He had about five minutes before I asked him to return to the ground.







This is a new favorite photo. Gracie G. is asking Toby, Casey M., and Mitzie to play with her. Gracie has come out of her shell quite a bit over the last few months so it was nice to see her doing well.





This photo makes me smile! Here are Lady and Daisy - I like to say they are waiting for the bus! It was a warm afternoon and they were watching the action. But is think is is very cute!


Have a great day.
Wendy

Thanksgiving Tips

Well, Mike just completed his training class for this year. He'll be conducting one time, subject specific classes later in November and December. The holidays tend to be a time when people become too busy for regular, structured class so this gets in training but relieves us all of the time commitment.

We were talking about Thanksgiving Tips and these were some that were shared.

• If you are boarding your dog for the holidays it is usually better for them to stick to their regular home food. Send your own food to the boarding facility; each meal individually bagged and labeled. This makes it easy for the staff.
• Still on food...do not feed table scraps or a special Thanksgiving meal to your canine. I know this sounds great but their digestive tracks may become upset and cause you alarm and possible bills at an emergency clinic.
• If your canine companion stresses easily when the suitcases come out of the closets then take them to the facility BEFORE packing. Think of suitcases from the dog's point of view...those empty containers come out of the closets...my humans fill them up...and they leave me. If the suitcases wait until the dog has left the house some of the stress may be alleviated.
• If you are traveling with your canine companion, make sure they have proper identification on their collars. If they have a tracking device make sure it is activated and has current contact information.

So, those are just some thoughts and ideas the class chatted about before the end of class. If you have other thoughts please post them so we can all share.

Wendy

Day is Done

The rush of the day is past and peace has settle at YLD. We have just a few overnight guests. They, too, have settled down. I hope they dream of chase games, falling leaves and fun times with their humans. We had a good day. Lots of energy was expended in good, clean fun.

My three have settled in for the night. Baxter has crammed himself into a little square bed. His head rests on the raised side. He looks warm and comfortable. At almost nine he deserves a good bed and peaceful sleep. My pseudo-puppy, Darwin, is sprawled at my feet. He is a master at passing gas and pretending someone else did it. A gas mask would be a good thing for me right about now. He is a pseudo-puppy because he is my youngest dog. He has grown into the largest of the three but I still sometimes see him as that small, black homeless puppy he was when we first met. My third is an inherited dog - Lady. She became mine when my mom passed this spring. Lady (or Ladybird for fun) has settled in well as dog number three. She is slimmer, toned, more playful and even joyous these days. Tonight Ladybird is curled up on the large square bed she prefers. All three will snooze while I finish writing or catching up on the myriad office tasks set before me.

May all rest well tonight. Peace.
Wendy

Naptime is over

What a glorious day! The leaves where falling. The dogs were playing and everyone was full of joy! Here we have the dogs running outside after naptime. In the front we have Jack (an older yellow lab) with Mitzie right beside him. Beyond them are Sawyer (a new YLD recruit) running along side Koda. In the background are Darwin, Baxter, Onslow and Estelle. What a great group!

Beautiful

The weather has been superb this weekend! The dogs have loved the warm weather and chasing the leaves. Some even find the leaves tasty......

Welcome!

Hello world! This is Wendy with You Lucky Dog! We are a daycare facility located in Raleigh, NC. I'll be posting some photos of the dogs, their antics and the staff that supervise them. We look forward to offering interesting news and tidbits as we progress with this new adventure. Look back soon!