How I am dealing with allergies

Sorry, buddy, no more sleeping in the bed for you.

Or at least how I'm planning to deal with it. For about a week ago I got ascertained that I've allergy for dogs (and all kind of fur animals for the matter), which was kind of a shook for me since I've grown up will all kinds of pets, horses, cats, rats, hamsters.... You name it. I've never felt allergic when I've had Beethoven, no sneezing, no red eyes, no nothing. But apparently the stress of the allergy have caused my body to attack the skin, giving it open wounds and generally made me sick.
Shelties are known for being kind of allergy friendly dogs, many with dog allergies doesn’t react on their fur as much as other types of shedding dogs. However they're not listed as allergy friendly and may most likely never be either since its very individually both for the dogs and the people. Maybe that's why I haven’t noticed much of it, I don’t know.

So to the dealing part.
When I came home from the doctors office, I started to do some research on the internet on how other people dealt with their allergies. I found one product (or actually a series of products.) that looked very promising. Apparently about 90% of the users got better after using this product. It sounded too good to be true. Hopefully it's not just a sales trick and it really does work. The product is called Petal Cleanse from Bio-life. Very simple to use, just grooming the dog and apply the liquid in the fur. Even a dummy could do that.
I've only been using the product once though, but it does look promising. My hands doesn’t feel as weird now after the treatment. Great bonus is that Beethovens fur became so nice and shiny, and it doesn’t seem like it has any negative effect on him either. I would never use it on him if it was bad for him.

Other things I'm doing for getting better.
- Vacuuming at least once a week. I could be better at it though, but at least I'm doing something. (Do I need to say that I wish for a robot vacuum for christmas?)
- Beethoven's not allowed on the bedroom anymore. Not even on the floor. Kind of hard thing to do, he has been sleeping in my bed since he came here. It has gone better than expected, both for me and him.
- Bathing the dog more frequently. I hate it and so does the dog. Bath time has never been any pleasure in this household, he doesn’t like to get wet and runs away then I even think about giving him a bath. But its for the better.
- Limiting contact with other dogs. I love dogs, I really do, but its not a good thing to be all cuddly with the allergy. One thing's my own dog which has been treated for allergens, an whole other thing about other dogs, specially those who are not allergy friendly.
- Renew the air in the apartment more often. Okay, this one would be a little hard to do now, it's -10C out and about 15 cm with snow. Not to mention how expensive it would be. But in the fall, spring and summer I should open up the windows to bring in some fresh air. It would be good for the work/indoor environment as well.

I think that's the most of it, except taking the meds and treatment, but I'm sure everyone with common sense would do that if they needed to. How do you deal with your allergies?

My thoughts about walking

Beethoven from last winter.

One thing I've been astonished about as a dog owner, other people and dog owners seem shocked that I walk my dog minimum 3 times a day. Why is that such a shook? 3 walks a day isn’t much in my honest opinion, and I wish I was better at walking my dog. All dogs should be allowed to go out of their home for a minimum of one hour. It doesn’t have to be a long walk in the wild woods and mountains, but at least a short walk on perhaps 15 - 30 minutes, 3 times a day. Everyone should be able to squeeze in that time in a day, if not, well you'll have to consider if a dog's the suitable pet for you.
I've a lot of stuff going on in my life, so it's kind of nice to have a break from it all. I'm pretty sure you guys feel the same too, lot of stress, nagging, plenty of things you have to do but never get to do anyway, worries, happiness which you can't deal with properly... that sort of thing.
 When walking the dog I leave most of my worries at home, turning of the mobile phone, leaving the computer who eats up way too much time of my life. Just walking around in my own thoughts and mind while the dog doing, dog stuff, I guess. To getting the mind in order and sorted out. Or just to dwell on some conversations from months back (wait a minute... did he call me fat? How dare he!) or coming up with awesome discussions and practice for them, even though you never get to use them any time or anywhere. Or perhaps think about things that you might think about in bed (Oh what will I've for dinner. Pizza sounds kinda nice. I love pizza. Do I've any in the freezer? Some mozzarella and ham would be yummy too, or do I've steak...) Suddenly I look down on my watch to realize I've been out for over a hour, time to head back home. Some cases coming back to my entrance door thinking «I'm already home? What the...»
Time flies while walking the dog, and after a good walk one feels more relaxed and connected. Maybe came up with some ideas how to untangle some things of personal matter or perhaps job related. I believe it's good for everyone to have that sort of break during the day. Just enjoying the sweet company of a fluffy ball of fur. It's good therapy. It makes me kind of sad that a lot of people don’t even give it a chance. After a few weeks, or perhaps a month or two, it feels like the most natural thing. You wake up in the morning, getting ready and take the dog out for a short walk before breakfast. Shortly it's just a part of your morning routine, like brushing your teeth or hair, or trying to get those beloved five more minutes in bed, your morning coffee with the newspaper.
I think many dog owners will be surprised how easy it really is to take the dog for three or more walks a day. Not only does it make your dog happy, it's also good for your and the dogs health. I know I get stressed when I'm not out with my dog or at least together with the dog in a social way , simply because I'm so used to it. I remember the dog was away for a couple days and it really did stress me out because I didn’t get to go out the way I was used to. I do know a lot of people who feel that way. I guess humans are habit animals, don't like much change in their daily routines when it's already set. It's just isn’t natural for us to stop doing what we do every day, not just every day, but multiply times a day.
So what do you think about walking the dog? How's your day with the dog? I would like to hear from you folks, so leave a comment or two if you want to, it would make me happy.

A day at the farm

Today I went to my aunts farm for delivering Christmas gifts. Man, how much I missed that place, I haven't been there for ages and it's just like I remember it. It's a pretty big farm with cattle, horses and many fields and much ground. They've a lovely border collie and alaskan husky mix there named Tara. She's kind of hyperactive, but she's only 2 years old, so maybe she'll settle down soon.

Beethoven loved being able to run freely on the fields and the farmyard to keep things in order. Unfortunate, I live in the city, so I don't have as much opportunities to let him out as much as I would like. He was a happy little ball of fur. He looked like a little fox. I never thought that the dog could run that fast, but I was wrong. Made me think about trying him in agility sometime, would be fun.

He and Tara didn't go very well to begin with. Tara isn't well socialized with other dogs, so she isn't very reliable. She's kind of... crisp. Had to have her in a cage for some time. After a couple of walks together the dogs were getting to know each other. Next time, maybe they're able to play together.

The day at the farm got me thinking about a lot of things. I've a goal of saving for a farm, the visit made me so much more motivated to save the money that's needed. Cutting out all the stuff that isn't needed. Also, it made me realize I had some more work do to on the socialize part on Beethoven. He's getting well along with small dogs, and dogs that isn't too forward, so to say. But he still needs to learn how to deal with dogs that's at a little higher pace than him. Maybe, if he just gets older, that may come by itself.

I'm so proud of my boy. He didn't bite or jump on anyone today, normally he's so over excited about meeting new people, but today he handled it good and well. I saw some of his teethes

are growing out in the wrong spot, so I'm hoping it will get better by itself and not having the vet involved. I'm sorry about the quality of the pictures. They were taken by my mobile phone, so they're not very good. I forgot to bring my camera to the farm.

Hoping everyone's having a safe celebration. Happy holidays.

Vet visit today.

My poor little baby has been sick a couple days. Went to the vet today and he said it was most likely to be gastroenteritis. Will have to wait until Friday to see if he have gone better. No fun at all having a little puppy with obviously signs that he's in pain. He don't want to go out on walks, no play, no nothing. He just lay on the floor, being too weak to do anything else, since he can't hold his food at all. He got a shot of nausea derogatory, so hopefully that will help soon. Have to feed him one tablespoon an hour of his new diet. He seems so like it. Probably since it's so soft compared to his kibble, which in the end, he couldn't eat at all. Fingers crossed for him to get a fast recovery, and go back to being my lovely troublemaker.

Down and up again

Yesterday, I got so frustrated by Beethoven. He was stressing like hell. Biting a lot and almost teared my skin of my thigh while jumping on me. I know I'm the one to blame. Haven't really slept well after I got Beethoven in the house. I guess that leads to lack of judgment. He just got more and more stressed as I got more and more frustrated, so we just went in bad circles of destruction.
After the heat has cooled, I thought about returning Beethoven back, since I still has that option. He came to me and licked my palm, being that sweet dig that he most of the time is. No, I can't return him back. He's the best thing that has happen to me in years. He's just a little puppy, he doesn't know better yet. In a couple of months he's teething will pass and with training and care he'll be able to deal with stress in a non distraction way. I just have to be patient, just like anything else.
He's such a sweet dog and I love him so dearly. It's nice to wake up by a a little tongue and a waging tail. Even though it might be in the complete wrong hour. It's still lovely. Had to go out with him 5 times tonight between 11:30 and 7. I guess that's the part of owning a pup. Soon enough he'll grow into an reasonable adult, until than, just have to hang in there. Happy Saturday everyone, hope you have a good day with your furry pals.

A day of training

Today has been a lovely day. Started the day with a 5 minutes walk with Beethoven before breakfast. Worked a little on «Close the door» and «Roll up in a towel.» when coming back in. He has been really good today, took contact all the time and walked with loose leash. Slept when he was told to too. Later we took a 30 min walk with some practice on «heel» to start with. 7 meters with contact all the way! Great! I'm hoping that means we are going in the right direction. I think that's our record at the moment, but it's a great progress, since we haven't been working on heel for long.

Later we took a longer walk in environments that he hasn't been much in yet. He seemed confident and eager to explore. Greeted a lot of people, and even some dogs, but he thought that the dogs were kind of scary. Still needs to work on that part of socialization. He's getting more and more confident as days passes by. Growing like a weed too, he's 30 cm! Already fitting in his adult harness and collar.
Rest of the day, we'll just relax on the couch before going on the evening walk without any training involved. Can't train all day, you know, needs to have some fun too. Happy thanksgiving all.