Pet Pampering

As a long time pet owner and a professional pet sitter I’ve always cared about what is best for my pets.  Because of this I want to talk about breeding pets.

Many of my pet sitting customer’s have pedigree dogs.  There is nothing wrong with this, in fact I too have 3 Pomeranians, 2 of them being pedigree.  What I have a problem with is when some pet owners  get a pedigree dog they love and they decide that they want to breed their dog because they think he/she is so beautiful and they would make a great dog parent.

Honestly I can’t understand why if they really loved their dog why they would want them to go though the reality of having puppies and the possible consequences like cesarean birth, especially on small dogs.

If you have two pedigrees and you have decided to get another, go out and buy one from a breeder. Don’t risk your pet’s health  whom you have grown to love.  There are plenty of breeders where you will find another pedigree dog to add to your family.

I really don’t think most people understand the real problem of over population of dogs in this country, so I hope to enlighten you.

So if every new pet owner decided to breed their dog, let’s look at some facts. If the average pet has six puppies and all the pets new owners think it would be great idea to breed their dog then how many dogs do you think you would be responsible for after 6 years.

Well if all six puppies were males,  just for examples sake, the resulting answer is a staggering 70,000 dogs.  It’s so sad because 2 million dogs are euthanized every year and four million strays are wandering the streets. If you still breed your dog after knowing these facts, I don’t think you can really call yourself a pet lover but a selfish person.  Hey I understand accidents happen but we must all work a little harder to prevent this.

I can tell you that I’ve watched many dogs in my pet sitting business and most males that are not neutered have many bad habits which include marking their territory on your furniture in the house and a habit of humping and biting your kids and guests.  Many of these dogs I watch have to wear a diaper (yes they make diapers for dogs) because they simply pee everywhere. 

Even if new pet owners  eventually get their dog fixed, it’s sometimes a habit that can’t be broken.  The point here if your getting a male have him fixed as early as your vet allows and get your female fixed before a accident happens and she ends up pregnant.  If you think your are going to be able to keep your male and female dog apart when she is in heat, I’m telling you it’s not going to happen.

When I got my youngest Pomeranian, I put off getting her fixed because I didn’t have any males. When she finally went into heat it was a really a nightmare. She would go around putting her butt into my other female faces always trying to get some action. Some might think this is cute but after 20 hours it becomes a nightmare. Not only that my other female who is fixed would go around the room in what my friend would say as doing a hula dance. If you’re having trouble visualizing this she would go around humping the air that my female had just passed by.  They all had one track minds and not something I ever want to go through again. I made sure my female was fixed before her next heat.

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Being a long time pet owner and a pet sitter, I’d like to talk about  flea control .  With my pet sitting business I find many first time pet owners concerned about fleas and how to control them.

Many customer’s have never owned a pet and go to their local Walmart or some other big store and buy some things they think they’ll need for their new puppy when they bring him home.  Besides a bed, some dog treats, and pet food, one of the things they end up buying is a flea collar.  Now, everyone who’s owned pets for a while, knows that flea collars are old school. They simply don’t work. 

So when a first time pet owner needed someone to care for his puppy called me,  besides the usual questions, I just asked if he had any fleas and when he said no,  I had him bring his puppy right over to my house.  When he arrived I noticed he had a flea collar on his puppy, but since he didn’t have any fleas, I never gave it much thought.

Then shortly after he left I started to notice his puppy wouldn’t stop scratching his neck. I checked him several times to see if he perhaps he did have fleas, but I couldn’t find any.  As the day progressed, I noticed it was really hard for him to play without his continually stopping to scratch his neck. It obviously was a problem that was really making him and me crazy.

I decided that perhaps it was the flea collar that was irritating his neck and took it off. The next day came and I noticed he hardly scratched at all and by the day he went back home three days later he was not scratching his neck at all anymore.

I am convinced  flea collars are simply skin irritants and I find it comical that you can find dozens of web sites that warn you of the danger of flea collars on humans, (it seems solders in Iraq were using this unconventional method to repel the desert sand flea,) but you should not feel apprehensive putting it on your dog.

In fact I found this press release dated April 16, 2003 from the Pentagon advising service members that flea collars are not for humans, and good intention family members should not send any family members any flea collars with any care package to their loved ones.

 They may have been the best thing 20 years ago, but today there are better and less irritating products for your pets.

So what are these products you ask? I personally find over 95% of my pet sitting customers including myself use Front Line Plus.  Sure I’d prefer a natural product but I never found any that worked and since I constantly care for pets at my house, I simply can’t afford to have any problem with fleas.

I live in Ohio, so fleas are only a problem in the late Summer and Fall.  Sure the vets tell you that you’ll need year round protection but the only protection they’re worring about is their wallet.   Naturally, there are certainly conditions that will warrant year round protection such as if you live where ticks are prominent or where the climate is much warmer and you find fleas year round.

In Ohio I never see fleas until August, that’s when I start to treat my 3 Pomeranians.  I continue to treat them usually until November.  Naturally if any pets come to my house with fleas during the year I will have to treat them no matter what time of the year it is.  I do try to take precautions against this by making sure all the dogs that come to my house during these months have been treated with Front Line Plus.

Front Line Plus is suppose to last a month but last year with all the rain and other weather conditions I did notice fleas reappearing after around 25 days.  If I see even one flea it’s like having a panic attack, I just don’t want them on my baby’s.  It was then my vet told me that I didn’t need to wait until the 30 days are up to treat them again, but always check with your vet before making any changes for your pet.

Front Line Plus is really a great product but like everything else there are dangers. It is a pesticide and I do wish I could be flea free with more natural methods.  I have tried many other products through the last 30 years but Front Line Plus works the best for me.

Front Line Plus can be a little expensive purchased at the vet,  but I buy it in wholesale on line and many of my pet sitting customers buy it from me so we both end up saving quite a bit of money.

Hi, My name is Sue Huss and I live in Oregon, Ohio.  In 2004 I decided to quit my job and pursue my passion, taking care of pets.  This was the beginning of Pet Pampering.

 It’s been quite a while since my two sons have both been  married and left home, and I think much like other pet owners, my dogs are my babies.  

They sleep with me and I occasionally cook regular food for them.  It’s nice to know they’ll never leave home.   I have three Pomeranians along with and a cat that has adopted me.

When I first started pet sitting I went to people’s house just like other pet sitter’s do.
Many times after caring for customer’s pets when it came time to leave, I’d feel so bad  looking  into their sad little eyes.  That’s when I decided, that maybe, it would be better if I watched small dogs at my house. I had plenty of room and a large 3/4 acre lot fenced in. There they could have my undivided attention and I wouldn’t have to look into those sad eyes.

I now have many visiting canine customers that have stayed at my house over 10 times.  It really makes me smile when they get here they are so excited and my dogs are very happy to see them also. They run off to play and their owners barely get to say good-by to them.  I really love these dogs like my own and am sorry to see them leave.

As my business grew it was hard to go to customer’s houses three times a day and take care of dogs in my house also. Luckily I had the good fortune to meet Diane Sharlow. She became my partner and our name changed to Sue and Diane’s Pet Pampering.  Much like me she is really an animal lover.

As our business grew in 2007 I had to enlist another friend, Carol Lageza to help me with some of the pet visits that we had.  At the risk of repeating myself she and her husband are big animal lover’s.   With Diane and Carol helping me I can spend more time at home caring for small dogs.  I feel I am blessed with the greatest job in the world.

Although I wish I could care for all dogs at my house my Pomeranian Megan is very intimidated by large dogs.   If you have a large dog that requires more attention my partner Diane can stay at your house. For a while she took large dogs to stay at her house but it seems her German Shepard is getting older and doesn’t tolerate energetic companions anymore.