Finally! A New Dogwalker for Mumble!

So, after many months of searching on craigslist.com, care.com, etc for potential dog walkers, dozens of emails back and forth between potential candidates, and a few in person meetings, Mumble and I have FINALLY found a new dog walker! I was determined to find the perfect fit for Mumble, someone I knew would work well with him, implement the techniques, etc as I want them implemented, and really just have that personality that is a good match for his. This morning, we interviewed a dog walker named Lynne (interestingly, the same name as the previous dog walker we loved).

Mumble was really testing her out and being difficult this morning. He was already stressed out because there was construction and repainting going on in our building, including work on our front door right outside. So I knew that Lynne had excellent potential when she didn't jump to any conclusions about him being "aggressive" even though he basically sat behind his gate barking or growling for the first 5-10 minutes she was there. Mumble can be loud and sound pretty intimidating, but he has never been actually aggressive to anyone, and someone who assumes that rather than really reading the signs he is giving off correctly is not the right match for him (i.e. the previous dog walker we interviewed who alluded to "kicking dogs in the chest" when they jumped on you and made a statement that Mumble was "aggressive and trying to be dominant").

Lynne, Mumble and I all went on a walk around the neighborhood, and Mumble did really well with her. Basically, he was showing off for her, walking next to her and looking up at her and not pulling on the leash. I warned her that while he's overall a well behaved dog, he isn't always this perfect on the leash!

I showed Lynne all of Mumble's tricks, behaviors, and other skills he is working on and knows. It was another good sign that she really paid close attention to everything and asked a lot of questions about his training and how to work with him. Mumble will bond better with someone and also respect them more if they work on some of his skills and behavior training with him too, so I'm glad she's willing to do this.

The icing on the cake was when she mentioned that (if I was OK with this) she would sometimes bring her 5 year old daughter along. Mumble LOVES kids, and I've worked hard on teaching him how to be calm around them and not to react when they run around or pull on him or pet him roughly. He's super motivated because he really wants to interact with kids, so he has basically learned to just be real still so that I'll let the kid come up to him. I think it will be great for him to have a child that he is around on a semi-regular basis and can form a bond with.

So... Lynne is starting later this week, and I'm really excited to move forward with this next stage for Mumble! He'll be staying home instead of going to doggie daycare a couple of times a week, when she'll be walking him. I'm sure there will be lots of adventures and stories as they get use to each other, but I am confident that she will be great with him and this is going to work out well!

Yay Chopper!

Chopper was Zoom Room Culver City's first "Member of the Month!" They included a great post about him on their blog!

http://www.zoomroomonline.com/culver-city/first-member-of-the-month-named.html

Free Dog Samples

We all know how expensive taking care of our furry kids can be - so free stuff is always appreciated! Here are some information regarding free samples of dog products / pet products:

Rachael Ray's dog food: http://www.rachaelray.com/pets/switch.php

"Better than Ears" dog treats, at walmart.com: http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid88773.aspx

Doggie Delightz treats: http://www.doggydelightz.com/page1.aspx

Bully Sticks: http://allnaturalbullysticks.com/freesampleform/

There are many more such samples out there! These are just the best ones I could find when looking around online today!


update - here is another sample: http://naturalnibbles.com/free_samples.html

Coupons: allyou.com has printable coupons, including pet products. Go to this link and choose "pet care" from the category list on the left for this month's pet care coupons.