I ran across this interesting article which shared interviews with some local small business owners in the pet market.  With the future of the US economy continuing to look bleak (at least in the short-term), talk seems to be shifting from IF there will be a recession to WHO will be the hardest hit.  Some have claimed that the pet market is “recession proof”, citing continued growth in the pet market during slight macroeconomic downturns over the past decade.  The question is, will this hold true if we’re facing a more substantial downturn?

Personally, I would have a very hard time cutting back on my Oscar-related spending.  I think I would be much more likely to spend less money on luxury items for myself to avoid altering the quality of life to which Oscar has grown accustomed to. 

Crazy??  Maybe, but after all, it’s not like I can explain to him that we all have to tighten our belts as we go through this little economic “blip”!! 

Sorry, Oscar, we have to cut back your afternoon walks from an hour to 30 minutes due to the failure of mortgage-backed securities…

My biggest concern is not for the pet businesses - I think they will be just fine - but I worry about the shelters.  Will people be as willing to open up their wallets to support animal rescue organizations when times are tight?  Will more people abandon pets because they no longer feel like they can afford to care for them properly? 

Would love to know your thoughts…

Does this look like fun, or what???  I’ve somehow managed to not get swept up in the fitness craze that is Yoga, but I may have to jump on the bandwagon, now that I know that I improve my physical fitness and bond with Oscar at the same time!!  To learn more about Doga (pronounced DOE-guh), check out this article from the Baltimore Sun.

Check out our NYC Dog Events Calendar for local Doga classes including classes at Bidawee animal shetler that are held @ 7:00pm on the 2nd Wednesday of every month.

SUCCESS!!!  Well, kind of…

A little over a month ago (see post Product Review - Pet Steps), we invested in some Pet Steps for Oscar in an attempt to curb his tendencies to hurl himself out of our bed and potentially injure himself.

He quickly mastered going UP the stairs which presented him with far better bed accessibility (wonderful…), but until about a week ago, unless we stood at the bottom of the stairs with his favorite treat and coaxed him down, he was continuing to leap to the ground - giving me a heart attack every time.

So I’m happy to report that we’ve kind of had a breakthrough in the past week - Oscar has begun to use the stairs to get DOWN from the bed of his own volition about 50% of the time.   Of course, when he does come down the steps on his own, he’ll stand at the bottom wagging his stub (tail) and looking at us as if to say, “Okay, I used your damn stairs, now where’s my treat??”. 

Oh well…I’ll take it!!  Maybe I should just give up and go with Grasshopper’s suggestion of a “doggie slide”!

Hi everyone, we just found out about a fun event to celebrate Milk-Bone’s 100th anniversary…

Milk-Bone^® Celebrates 100^th Anniversary by 

Building the World’s Largest Dog

House in Times Square

WHO:             *Milk-Bone^®, America’s favorite dog snack

*Pet Parents and their loveable pooches from the metropolitan area

*Celebrity Pet Photographer, Christopher Ameruoso

WHAT:           Milk-Bone^® is celebrating the brand’s 100^th Anniversary in the doghouse! With the help of more than 100,000 Milk-Bone^® dog biscuits and standing at 18 feet high, the 480 square foot dog house will play host to a paw-ful of activities. Kicking off the festivities will be special celebrity guest who will help present a $1 million donation to the Milk-Bone^® Canine Heroes program.

                        The star studded anniversary celebration will have pet parents and their four-legged friends running in circles as they enjoy entertainment from doggy dancers, paw readers and personalized artwork from professional pet caricature artists. Celebrity Pet Photographer, Christopher Ameruoso will also be in attendance showing off 10 of his favorite celebrity paw-tographs that will be auctioned off following the event to benefit Canine Assistants. To put the icing on the cake, the brand has called on Food Network’s Ace of Cakes to create a one-of-a-kind dessert that will have everyone begging for more!

WHEN:           Wednesday, May 21, 2008

                        11 p.m. – 12 p.m. (VIP & VID [Very Important Dogs] access only)

12 p.m. – 3 p.m. (Open to the public)

WHERE:        Military Island in Times Square

                        (Intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue between 43rd and 44^th)

                        New York, NY

WHY:              To commemorate 100 years (that’s 700 in dog years) of Milk-Bone^® bringing smiles to dogs’ and pet parents’ faces.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Coyne PR 973-316-1665

Jennifer Lilly, jlilly@coynepr.com  or Joyce Essig, jessig@coynepr.com

So Oscar and I have decided that it’s time for us to weigh in on the debate about NY as the Pet-Friendliest Destination.  Earlier this month Animal Fair announced the winners of 2008 Cesar Five Dog Bone Awards, and recognized our very own NYC as the best Pet-Friendly Destination:

Pet-Friendly Destination: New York City, New York. The Big Apple is not just a tourist attraction for people anymore, but is inviting for their traveling pets too! Animal Fair is proud to present New York City the Pet-Friendliest Destination Award of 2008! Offering scores of hotels that provide pet accommodations in almost every neighborhood, Lady Liberty welcomes your pets with open arms. Enjoy shopping at the Time Warner Center, pampering at the many hound-hospitable hotels, dining at canine-cuisine restaurants, celebrating the nightlife at dog-friendly bars, and strolling outdoors with your four-legged friend. With more than two-dozen off leash dog parks alone, including the famous Central Park, Pug Hill, and Washington Square Park, your dog will never want to leave “the city that never sleeps”. Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs are jam-packed with exciting pet-friendly activities and events for you and your pet to indulge in. It’s no wonder that Animal Fair’s readers voted New York Citythe Pet-Friendliest Destination of 2008. So nice to pets - they named it twice! For more information visit: nycvisit.com.

The timing of this announcement is particularly amusing to me because I JUST made an acquaintance who basically accused me of being a cruel person for keeping a dog in NY!! I spent the better part of an hour educating this poor misguided soul about all of the wonderful benefits of being a dog or a dog owner in NY.

Oscar chillin’ in the city… 

So clearly, I must agree wholeheartedly with the “pet-related experts” at Animal Fair who made the final decision on winners for each category, right?

Well…not exactly. While I would agree that NY is a terrific place to own a dog (in fact, I might go as far to say that it is the best CITY in the US to live in if you are a dog owner), I have a hard time believing that it could possibly be the most pet-friendly travel destination.

Yes, if I had to come to NY and couldn’t bear to be separated from Oscar, I could stay in a pet-friendly hotel near a dog run and utilize excellent services like dog walkers, doggy daycares and groomers to make sure he was well cared for while I attended to business or visited local tourist attractions (which are primarily NOT dog-friendly – try taking your dog to a museum or the Statue of Liberty, I dare you! Even if you could take your dog to the MOMA, how would you get him there considering the facts that he’s not allowed on public transportation and cabs aren’t required to pick up passengers with dogs?). But if I was planning a “family trip” that included Oscar, NYC would not be the first destination that popped into my head.

There are a lot of dogs/dog owners in NY so it’s probably a good PR move to name it the best Pet-Friendly Destination, but I would imagine the most dog friendly destination would be somewhere like the Catskills or the Berkshires or some small obscure town in Montana where well-behaved dogs are allowed roam freely off-leash by the side of their owner.

I don’t know, maybe my rural dog utopia doesn’t exist and maybe NYC is the best pet-friendly travel destination. What do you think?

Just out of curiosity, I checked to see who won this category last year and it was Las Vegas. Las Vegas?!?!  Sorry, I don’t think so…

This ABC News article:  Dogs in Pain May Act Depressed is a little lengthy, but well worth the read.  It’s title is a little misleading, because the article gives great tips on how to recognize the signs of anxiety, depression AND pain in your dog, as well as some suggestions on how to help your dog to feel better.

The article points out that depression in animals is often the result of chronic pain.  Unfortunately, we’ve had some personal experience with this recently.  I have avoided talking about it previously in the blog (mostly because it’s been a sad few months and I didn’t want to dwell on it) but Oscar suffered a broken toe due to an unfortunate accident and spent most of the winter in a splint. 

Making the best of the situation early on…

You might think what we thought a the beginning - a broken toe, no big deal, right?  But alas, it was a very big deal to Oscar who had to wear a big bulky splint that covered the entire bottom half of his leg.  He was also on restricted activity - so no dog run, no long walks, no rough-housing…poor O-Dog.  While wearing the splint, Oscar definitely seemed to be showing signs of depression…he seemed to mope around and be less interested in playing.  But the accident occurred just after his 2nd birthday, so we weren’t sure if some of the change might be due to just growing up and losing that puppy exuberance. 

Here’s a picture of the saddest dog in the world…

To make matters worse, after 8 weeks with the splint (which has to be replaced every two weeks, btw), the x-ray was not showing any “bony healing”.  Our vet referred us to a doggy orthopedic specialist (yes, they really exist!!) and we learned that if the bone did not heal properly, it could cause Oscar permanent pain and the only way to treat would be a very complex surgery (with a 20% success rate) or amputation of his toe! 

After 4 months, we decided to take the splint off even though there is still no evidence of bony healing.  According to our vet, scar tissue has formed between the two ends of the bone which seems to be pretty sturdy.  It’s possible that the scar tissue will be strong enough to enable Oscar to be fully active and keep his toe, but only time will tell.  When the splint first came off, Oscar wouldn’t put any weight on it, but two weeks later he is barely limping.  Because he was in a splint so long, his tendons have stiffened up, his foot muscles have atrophied and he had sores from where the splint would continuously rub against his leg.  We’re hoping the slight limp is just a result of those temporary conditions and we’re still hopeful for a full recovery.

Anyway, back to the point of article…in the last week Oscar’s spirit has improved dramatically!!  We’re still trying to keep his activity level on the low side for a few more weeks at the vets recommendation, but now it seems like he wants to play all the time - he’ll bring us every toy in his basket and squeak them until we give in and play tug-of-war.  The before bedtime ritual of “crazy-time” has been reinstated…this is where Oscar runs in circles around the bed barking and play biting us as we alternately hide under the covers and pounce on him.  In short…Oscar’s back!! 

I’m so happy that he’s been able to bounce back to his good ol’ high-spirited self.  After all, you can’t blame him for being down…his foot hurt and we made him lug around a big heavy cast for 4 months.  He had no way of knowing if it would ever come off!  In our case, we knew that he was in pain, but if your dog suddenly starts acting depressed - take him to the vet, he may be in pain and he has no way to tell you!

On a positive note, you can’t imagine the attention Oscar recieved during his therapy dog visits at the hospital because of his condition.  Patients would immediately forget their own woes and say, “Ohhh……what’s wrong with his foot?”.  Patients on the orthopedic floor were especially empathetic.  We met several people with broken left toes or feet who felt a special bond with Oscar.  Finally, you wouldn’t believe how many people asked us if Oscar was in the hospital for treatment!!!  I have heard of a revolutionary human/veterinary hospital somewhere - I can’t for the life of me remember where it was, but no Oscar didn’t receive any treatment at St. Vincent’s - except the therapy dog got some therapy for himself!!

Well this has been a long one, thanks for sticking with me.  I would be really interested in hearing from any other dog owners who have dealt with a broken toe - especially one with a delayed or non-union.  We’re still holding our breath to see if Oscar will make a full recovery.  As much as the thought of having his toe amputated makes me want to cry, the thought of him not being able to have a full range of motion for the rest of his life makes me even sadder - he’s only 2 years old!! 

Any success stories to share???  Please…

We’d like to draw your attention to two fun events in support of Animal Haven shelter in SOHO that are happening in the next two weekends.  For more details, check out our NYC Dog Events Calendar or visit the Animal Haven website and click on “Events”.

Now that we’ve finished chronicling our journey to become a therapy dog team (click here for Becoming a Therapy Dog - Parts 1 through 6), we’d like to periodically share some of our special visits with you.  Every week, we meet wonderful people who inspire us with their strength and positive attitude, while dealing with some serious health issues.  We don’t know exactly what they’re going through, but since we visit patients who have been admitted to St. Vincent’s hospital we know that they probably aren’t feeling their best.

Last week we met an elderly gentleman from Long Island who has rescued over 300 stray dogs and cats during his lifetime.  Each time he brought a stray to a shelter he made a donation to guarantee that the animal would held for adoption and not be euthanized.  He gave us quite an education on the different shelters and rescue organizations in the area.  While we were enjoying conversing with a fellow animal-lover, Oscar also seemed to have a special bond with this patient.  The gentleman invited Oscar to sit in bed with him and Oscar immediately lied down flat against his side and fell fast asleep!!  Now Oscar has had the privilege of visiting quite a few patients in their beds and he has NEVER displayed this level of comfort so quickly.  It’s like he could sense how deeply this person felt about animals and their well-being and felt completely relaxed in his presence. 

We normally have very positive visits with pet owners or people who have owned pets in the past.  However, some of our most memorable visits have been with people who have never owned a dog.

One visit in particular sticks with me, even though it happened several months ago…

We were following our normal routine, going door-to-door asking if people would like a visit from the “therapy dog” and we came to the doorway of an elderly African-American man who was sitting up in bed with his feet on the floor. 

When we initially asked if he wanted a visit he said, “Oh no, I’m afraid of dogs”.  We said, “Okay, have a nice night.” and were about to move on when he spotted Oscar in the hallway outside of his room.  “That’s the dog?” he asked.  “Yes, this is Oscar.” we replied. 

Deciding that Oscar didn’t look very scary, he said, “Well, maybe I could say hi to him.”  So, we guided Oscar into the room.  Oscar casually walked over to the man and nudged his calf with his nose.  The man tentatively reached down and petted Oscar on the head.  To break the ice, we demonstrated Oscar’s “High 5″ trick and it was all over from there…by the end of the visit, the man was happily letting Oscar lick his hands and seemed to have lost all of his initial apprehension - he was laughing and his face was lit up with a huge smile.  Right before we left, he confided that he had been bitten by a dog when he was very young and had been scared of dogs his entire life.  It had been over 60 years since he had gone anywhere near a dog!! 

Gratuitous cute picture of Oscar…

Just yesterday we had another amazing visit with a woman who had never had a dog.  She was excited to see Oscar, but told us that she wasn’t a dog person.  She kept mentioning how tons of other people would just LOVE to meet Oscar….her sons, her neighbor, a friend she had known since “right after the war”.   Amidst her interesting stories, she would mention how one person or another would be so upset that they’d missed meeting Oscar.   Although she continued to pet Oscar and tell us how cute he is, we weren’t positive that she was really enjoying Oscar’s visit.

Then finally she said to us, “You know, you’ve made my day.  I haven’t had any visitors all day and I’m not expecting any.  You can’t imagine how lonely it gets.”  And of course that made our day!  What a wonderful compliment from a woman who was so focused on what would make other people in her life happy at a time when no one would blame her for just thinking about herself.

Well that’s all for now, we hope you’ve enjoyed the first installment of Oscar’s Therapy Dog Tales.  Tune in for more next time…

This week is Pet Therapy Week at St. Vincent’s hospital.  Stop by the Link Pavillion any time this week to learn about the Animal-Assisted Therapy program at St. Vincent’s.  You can also buy baked goods and calendars to support the therapy dog program!!

St. Vincent’s Manhattan was the first New York State Department of Health test site for animal-assisted therapy in acute care facilities. In 1998, St. Vincent’s pioneering work resulted in the state’s health code being changed to make such programs possible. St. Vincent’s  also hosts certification classes 3-4 times a year.

We also love that St. Vincent’s has a Patient Pet Care Program that assists patients who need help arranging care for their pets during extended & emergency hospitals stays.

Well this is a very sad topic, but considering the rates of pet ownership and divorce, it must be a pretty common issue.  What happens to your dog if your marriage or relationship comes to an end?  For people who think of their dogs as family members (53.5% of dog owners), it could be one of the most difficult issues to resolve in a divorce or break-up.

I’ve already made it very clear to Josh, that if things between us go sour, Oscar goes with me!!  But perhaps for a more balanced view, you might want to check out this advice from Kathy Santo, aka ”The Dog Shrink”.  She also has a lot of other good advice on a wide range of topics.