A game of tug-o-war Good Dog Neighbors

              Promoting safe recreation with your dog,

                               and good relations with your neighbors

SAFETY

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GOOD THINGS TO TAKE ALONG
FOR SAFER DOG OUTINGS

THE FIVE MUST-HAVES:  If you have these along, you will make your outing much safer and more enjoyable for :

  • your dog,

  • yourself, and

  • other people and dogs.

1.   Dog collar or harness:  Most importantly, these enable holding onto and controlling the dog.  Also need them for ID.

2.   Dog leash:  Six feet long since that’s what’s required in most public places; or if longer, you easily shorten it to 6 ft.  DON’T use a rope or chain.  Ropes can be chewed through and can break.  Chains are heavy and are very uncomfortable overkill.

3.   Poop pickup bags:  The best bags are biodegradable, but if you don't have those, at least recycle your grocery plastic bags.  This is preferable to buying the types of non-biodegradable poop pickup bags that add even MORE non-biodegradable trash to our dumps.

4.   Dog water supply:  Regular soft drink bottles work great.  Have a supply for yourself too.

5.   Dog water container:  Collapsible water bowls are available at dog and outdoor gear stores and can prepare you for any location.  In a pinch you can also pour water into a plastic bag that you have cupped into the grass, dirt, or between your feet.  Always be sure your dog buddy has enough water!

THE SHOULD HAVES

6.   A waist or fanny pack:  You can find one of these dirt-cheap at thrift stores.  Enables you to easily grab it to take on your outings so you have a place to carry the items you need from this list.

7.   Dog whistle (to which you have trained your dog to respond to a certain signal pattern).  Use for true emergencies and longer distances when you have mistakenly lost sight of your dog.  Your dog should be trained to recall to you on that long-distance whistle come hell or high water.  Be aware that other dogs might also respond to it.

8.   Dog first aid booklet.

9.   Small pair scissors: To cut out brush and other materials caught in long hair.

10. Flashlight: Not just for after dark.  Comes in handy if your dog’s tags fall off and you have to hunt in hard-to-see locations; shows the reflection (a good argument for reflective tags).  Also good to train on yourself if it's night time and your dog either doesn’t see you or is deaf.

11. Extra batteries:  If you don't have them, there will surely come multiple times you regret it.

12. Emergency paper & pencil:  These save the day during many kinds of emergencies, whether to post on a car or a bulletin board (lost/found, etc), write down tips or resources learned from local signage, or just to swap info with others.

13. Dog treats:  Necessary if you need treats in order to get your dog to recall to you.  They’re also nice as a gift.  Since our dogs are part of our pack, we have a rule that whenever we eat, they also eat.  So these are handy if the people food we're having (like chocolate candy) is harmful to them.

THE NICE-TO-HAVES

14. Reflective collar or battery-powered flasher: These can help with safety, especially on dark colored dogs at night.  For Cascade, a small black cocker spaniel we had adopted, we found we had to put a flasher on each side of his collar for our night-time walks, because he was a  deaf but avid explorer in dark bushy areas.

Be safe,

have fun,

respect others

Having trouble with your dog's behavior?  
Call the Oregon Humane Society's free Pet Behavior Helpline at 503-416-2983.

 LG meets a new friend

 

 

 

 





Here's a typical first meeting of two dogs.  Note the tail up on both dogs, meaning they are alert as they are cautiously checking each other out. 

In the photo at the top left of this page where two dogs are playing, note the typically playful position of the dog on the right.  That bowing position with rump in the air is one of the common "let's play" positions.

What would you do?

Situation:  A small dog is keeping you awake barking for the last hour somewhere in the neighborhood at 2am on a very cold night.

  1. Call police.
  2. Go search for the noisemaker, and when identified, call police.
  3. Report the incident to Animal Control the next day.
  4. Go search for the noisemaker and politely ask the neighbor to quiet the dog.

Here's what may happen in each scenario, depending on how your community provides support regarding animal nuisance calls.  Each community differs.

  1. Police may have a policy of not handling dog calls.  They could likely refer you to Animal Control.
  2. Same as #1 -- it doesn't matter whether or not you know who the offending neighbor is.  (Note that we say the neighbor is the offender, not the dog.)
  3. Animal Control is no help when it's after weekday business hour.  And you want to get to sleep.
  4. If you search for the noisemaker's home and get a response when you ring their doorbell, chances are you'll get a good response as long as you are polite.  Most folks were sound asleep and didn't hear the dog, or were watching a late movie which masked the dog's noise.  Besides ASKING if they will quiet their dog, let them know you were concerned about a small dog and hypothermia outdoors on a cold night.  Don't sound accusing.  You might give them your name and phone number and ask for theirs so that if it happens again, you can call instead of coming over.  And thank them!

Pesticide-free puddle

 

 

 

 

 



 

This guy enjoyed getting a quick drink from a puddle.  This photo was taken at Arbor Lodge Park, one of three Portland parks that are currently experimenting with being pesticide-free.

The fact that the park is pesticide-free means it is probably safer to drink from this puddle, however that does not mean all puddles there are free from hazard.  You may not want to stop your dog from drinking from a puddle, especially when the Off-Leash Area does not provide dogs with drinking water, but you can control where he drinks.  Be sure you don't let your dog drink from puddles in parking areas and streets due to leaks of antifreeze, which is sweet-tasting but poisonous, and where there are other chemicals that can be harmful or deadly.  Best, of course, is to carry your own water and dog water dish.