Home Alone

Mom and Dad are retired so they don’t have to go to work every day for long times like some of your humans do but they do go out sometimes and leave me and DixieLee alone. We don’t like being left alone because there is nobody to let us in and out when we want and there is nobody at home to give us cookies.

Those are really stressful times.

Also, it is our job to help guard the house and when our humans are gone, guarding the house is all OUR responsibility.  A responsibility we take seriously.

Mom says it’s okay for them to be gone because they will come home soon.  Really?  How does she know that we will not have a Zombie Apocalypse while they are gone?

Here are some of the things we do at our house to make being left alone less stressful.

Get a Good Work Out.  When we are sleeping, we are not stressing.  The bestest way to get a good work out is to go for walks.  We love going for walks but long walks are not always possible especially if you live in a place like we do where yucky weather makes going outside not always fun.

When we can’t go outside, we have exercise by playing tug of war or Fetch Extreme. Playing Fetch Extreme is like playing fetch but you have to run up and down the stairs.  Boy, you can get tired easy when stairs are involved. (Not recommended for dogs who are not as fit as DixieLee and me).

Soothing sounds. We keep the television on all the time, even when Mom and Dad are in other rooms or far away like in the yard.  Some humans like music playing all the time. So, when the television is on, we know that everything is okay.  Rumor has it that there are television stations that play dog friendly stuff all day long. I think that is a great idea!

Puzzle toys.  Another good idea!  When we have something to keep us busy, we forget that we are alone. I like puzzle toys but DixieLee gets frustrated and kills them.

Secure spaces. We love our crates!  It’s like having our own room in the house where it is ours alone.  No one bothers us when we are in our crates.  They are big enough so we can stand up and turn around and have comfy blankets and when we are left alone, we have a caribou antler (or other safe toy) to chew on. 

When we are in our crates, Mom said that we only have to protect that space since we can’t get to other parts of the house. 

Our crates are on different sides of the room but the fronts face each other so if DixieLee and I want to talk to each other we can, if not, we can turn our backs and not be bothered.

Hello and Good Bye. We’re really good at the Good Bye part since we get a treat but we do tend to get a little over excited at the Hello. After all, we weren’t sure we would ever see you again.

It's been days, okay, a couple of hours, who keeps track of time, anyway it is annoying when Mom and Dad ignore our pitiful cries and casually let us out of our crates.  No matter how much we carry on, they act like it’s not a big deal. 

Being left alone is not fun but it doesn’t have to be stressful either.  Think of it as a time when you can just chill in your special place and listen to the blah, blah, blah of the TV guy or the singers on the radio and dream about cookies and squirrels.

Chill,

Zeva

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LOST AND FOUND

I saw a notice on Facebook today about a dog that is missing and his humans are trying to find him. I am worried about him because I know he is super scared and wants to go home but maybe he doesn’t remember the way.

That’s why his humans posted his picture on Facebook and asked everybody who lives sort of near him to help him.

I hope getting lost never happens to you but if it does, here are a few things your humans can do to help you find your way home faster.

1. Make Posters. In SUPER BIG letters it should say “LOST DOG” (or CAT, cuz cats can get lost too).

The poster should have a big picture of you, in color, big enough to easily see from not close. Some peoples put a couple more pictures to show different angles or close ups of marking.

Don’t forget to add telephone numbers so peoples call and give updates of sightings etc.

2. Hang the posters all around town on poles and ask if you can put them in places like stores where lots of peoples go. The more peoples who see the posters, the more peoples who will know you are lost if they see you.

3. Leave posters or fliers at houses around the area where you were last seen. Leave them in doors and on car windshield. (NOT in Post Office Boxes… that’s a no no).

4. Post a notice on Facebook and other social media places and ask others to share the notice. Again, make sure there are photos and a phone number and tell where you were last seen.

5. Call the Police, Shelters and vets. These are good places for peoples to bring found animals when they don’t know how to get in touch with the owners. Pets can wander far so check with shelters etc. a little far away.

6. Place an ad in the local newspaper. Lots of peoples read the newspapers.

Getting lost is a very scary. If you do get lost making sure you have good identification can get you home faster. An up to date tag from your Vet and/or the Town where you live are good. Your people can get a tag with your name and their telephone number on it at most pet stores.

And if you don’t have a micro chip, get one right away. Some dogs, like DixieLee, can slip their collars but a micro chip is put inside you so it can’t get lost. It doesn’t hurt at all to get one.

Your humans have to make sure it is registered and up to date. When we moved, Mom called the micro chip place and updated our files.

Most Shelters and Vets have a little machine that can read the micro chip and find out where you belong.

So, the best thing is not to get lost but if you do, make sure your humans know the ways to get you back home safe and fast.

Your friend,

Zeva

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