Thanks to Bow & Wow, we were able to try out Gulpy Pet Water Dispenser for our Shih Tzu who loves going out: Shantee!

The Gulpy Pet Water Dispenser is best for pets on the go, especially those who love to run and play! Like people, pets get thirsty too. Probably even more so — after all, they’re covered in fur. But unlike us humans, dogs cannot buy drinks for themselves to satisfy their thirst — it’s the role of every responsible pet owner to bring hydration for the dog when going out with them.

There are places here in Manila, like in Eastwood City, that are so pet-friendly that water stations for thirsty dogs are provided. But, unfortunately for Shantee, the water dispenser was dry when we were there.

Good thing we brought her own drink!

The Gulpy Pet Water Dispenser is pretty convenient. I placed a filled one inside my bag, and because of its mechanism, my belongings remained dry. No spillage!

Now Shantee gets to enjoy the sun as much as she wants without me worrying about dehydration. You can get Gulpy Pet Water Dispenser at Bow & Wow stores in Shangri-La Mall (Mandaluyong) or Greenbelt Makati. For more details, visit the official Bow & Wow website.

Preparing for the summer season is almost always frequently overlooked. For us humans, summer usually means two months of fun days under the sun. But for our funny friends, it’s not only uncomfortable, but could also be a matter of life and death.

Since our family don’t go out too often during the summer (me and my husband love to travel, but the summer heat is just too overwhelming), we’ve come up with a list of “to-do’s” for our dogs so that they would be comfortable during the summer.

Let the dogs stay in air-conditioned rooms with you. Our two Shih Tzus and my mom’s favorite aspin / Japanese Spitz mix stay inside the house with us since they’re the smallest in our dog pack. They’re also the furriest. Since intense heat usually activates my asthma and our home office have expensive computer equipment, me and the dogs usually stay inside an air-conditioned room. It’s a pain when the electric bill comes, but it’s worth it — my husband and I would rather pay a bit more on electricity for two months than having the dogs suffer heat exhaustion or me confined to the hospital due to frequent asthma attacks.

Always keep a boy of fresh water for them to drink. I think this is self-explanatory. We all know how important it is to drink water, especially on a hot summer day. Dogs are the same, they need water too.

Provide adequate shelter. The dogs must have shade to keep them cool if they’re staying outside your house. We’re lucky that there are two mango trees in our backyard, the dogs can play in the grass even when it’s hot since the trees provide shade. I also had a tiled area done for barbecues in the yard, and it’s the perfect place for the dogs to hang out (the tiles keep them cool).

Give the dogs a shower! Let them cool off. Even dogs who don’t like baths appreciate having a cool shower in the summer heat.

Give the dogs a haircut. Our pure Aspins (Spike and Kutonbol) have short hair, unfortunately, the others aren’t so lucky. The other dogs are either Shih Tzus (Shantee and Kubrick) or Aspin / Japanese Spitz mix (Harry, Choknat and Patatats) — thick-haired breeds. Summer is an insane season for them, so it’s usually the time when we give them a “crew cut.” The dogs sometimes feel ashamed of their silly haircuts (we either cut their fur really short or have them shaved), but looking silly is better than having them suffer heat exhaustion

Make sure that the dogs’ living quarters are well-ventilated. Just like humans, dogs kept inside the house should have proper ventilation. Keep windows open so air gets in. Last summer, my dad even had exhaust fans installed in our house, significantly cooling the parts of the house where it was usually hot.

Probably because of climate change, our weather has been, for lack of a better term: weird. El Nino has already brought drought to our country — the heat hadn’t been friendly to both plants, animals and even humans (heat stroke is very dangerous!). It’s best to stay safe and take necessary precautions. We don’t want our summer fun be ruined by a tragedy, do we?

Hope you all have a safe and fun summer!

But thanks to my younger sister Joyce, we were able to continue Shantee’s FURminator regimen. She started Shantee with the FURminator deShedding Dog Treats (separate post on this soon, Shantee simply adores the treats!), and began using the deShedding Shampoo and deShedding Solution in place of her usual Alpo 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner for her weekly baths.

Ever since Joyce started using the deShedding Tool on Shantee, we noticed that she does shed less than before. And I’m not just saying that.

As I have said, stress had been triggering my asthma lately. And that also meant I was a bit more sensitive to loose dog hairs and dust as I was before. Because of this, my husband Marc helped me do a total general cleaning of the house—getting rid of loose dog hairs and dust as much as possible.

Normally, Shantee’s loose hair already start to gather up in corners of the house about two weeks after a general cleaning. But ever since my sister and I have been giving Shantee the FURminator treats and using the bath solutions and tool, there were noticeably less loose dog hairs around.

Based on the FURminator fact sheet I got, the deShedding Tool is actually designed to remove undercoat and loose hair in dogs, reducing shedding up to 90% and releases the dog’s natural oils. And I think it really does as it said it would.

Aside from less shedding (this really helps a lot, I’ve been recovering better lately too), Shantee’s hair has been pretty soft and shiny for the past weeks. She usually has soft and shiny coat after a day at the groomer’s, and her fur wouldn’t be like that again until her next bath or next grooming session. But with FURminator, Shantee’s coat remained soft and shiny even when she’s already due for a bath.

Overall, I’m very pleased with how the FURminator regimen has been going. Though Shantee will still continue on having the regimen, my sister and I are also going to start on our mom’s dog, Patatats. My mom saw the effect of FURminator on Shantee, so she requested we have her dog treated instead of Harry for our testing of the products on a medium-haired dog.

Frankly, I’m quite excited to see how Patatats will turn out. Her fur has quite a number of tangles. It would be quite a challenge, but we’ll see if FURminator would be able to give Patatats a furry make-over

Shantee and I were given a complete FURminator deShedding kit for review: FURminator deShedding Tool, deShedding Shampoo, deShedding Solution, Waterless deShedding Shampoo and Conditioner, and deShedding Dog Treats.

Shantee is a teacup Shih Tzu, and most of the information we’ve read about her breed say that normally their type shed less than the usual. But the thing is, they still shed. The hairs I collect in my dustpan whenever I’m cleaning the house can attest to that. According to the FURminator Tool fact sheet, the Tool can reduce shedding up to 90 percent in boht long and short-haird dogs and cats.

My sister and I are going to try these products on Shantee, Harry, and Coal and then see how they turn out. Coal is a black Labrador Retriever, the perfect example for a short-haired dog; while Harry is a native dog and Japanese Spitz mix. His hair isn’t as long as Shantee’s, but not as short as Coal’s either.

We’re all excited how our little FURminator experiment will turn out for the next few weeks. Stay tuned for updates!

I was lucky to stumble upon a forwarded message from the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) mailing list regarding pet CPR and the basic steps on how to administer it. The instructions seemed to have been forwarded from a certain Dr. Andrew Jones’ email message.

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Pet CPR

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is the most important First Aid technique that every pet owner should be comfortable with. Chances are that you will never have to use it, but it will save your pet’s life if a ball is lodged in his airway.

There are some very basic steps:

1. Assess responsiveness
2. Establish a patent airway
3. Perform rescue breathing
4. Cardiac massage – establishing circulation

STEP 1: RESPONSIVENESS
The first step is making sure that your pet is truly unresponsive.

1. CHECK his breathing by placing your hand in front of his mouth and nose.

2. CHECK for his heartbeat by placing your ear against the left side of his chest. This is the area where his left elbow touches his chest, immediately behind his left armpit.

STEP 2: AIRWAY
The second step in CPR is obtaining a patent airway.

1. PULL the tongue out of your pet’s mouth, but be careful to not get bitten.

2. STRAIGHTEN the neck by moving the head to be in line with the neck. DO NOT HYPEREXTEND IN CASES OF NECK TRAUMA.

3. PERFORM two rescue breaths, by closing the mouth and performing mouth to nose ventilations. IF they continue, then proceed to STEP 3, BREATHING. If there are no breaths, then look into the mouth.

4. VISIBLY inspect the mouth and look down the throat for a foreign body. If you see something, reach into the airway and remove it.

5. IF the airway is still not open, attempt HEIMLICH (shown in following steps).

6. TURN your pet upside down, with back against your chest.

7. WITH both arms, give sharp thrusts to the abdomen.

8. AFTER 5 thrusts, stop and check to see if the object is visible in the airway. If so remove it and give 2 mouth-to-nose rescue breaths. If the breaths do not go in, repeat HEIMLICH.

STEP 3: BREATHING
After achieving a patent airway, perform RESCUE BREATHING.

1. CLOSE your pet’s mouth and breathe directly into his nose until his chest expands. If the chest doesn’t expand then go back to STEP 2 – AIRWAY.

2. VENTILATE at 15 breaths per minute. One BREATH every 4 seconds.

3. PROCEED to STEP 4 – CIRCULATION

STEP 4: CIRCULATION

1. ENSURE there are no major points of bleeding. Control as necessary.

2. GENTLY lay your pet on his right side.

3. LOCATE the heart, which is found on the lower half of the chest on the left side, behind the elbow of the front left leg. Place one hand below the heart to support the chest; place the other hand over the heart.

4. COMPRESS the chest 15 times followed by 2 rescue breaths. 3 compressions every 2 seconds. Compress the chest 1/2 inch for small pets and 1 1/2 inches for large pets.

5. EVERY 15 times follow up with 2 rescue breaths.

Continue heart massage compressions and the rescue breathing until you hear a heart beat and feel regular breathing. Once your pet is breathing and his heart is beating, CALL your veterinarian immediately!

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Hope that helps!

Fireworks are pretty, and LOUD. And they have to be, since tradition says that the loud noise will scare away evil spirits and bad luck for a prosperous New Year. But the thing is, loud noise not only scare evil spirits and bad luck, but our canine friends as well.

Dogs are a whole lot more sensitive than us humans. A loud bang from a labintador may be tolerable noise for us, but for dogs, that’s like the beginning of World War III. For them, the noise is magnified—you can just imagine how scary it is for our pets come New Year’s Eve.

Military dogs are trained to withstand the noise from a gun shot even if their handlers are the ones taking the shot. But our sweet pets at home don’t have that kind of training—loud noises from fireworks can really scare them. As responsible pet owners, it’s our job to help our little canine friends cope with New Year’s Eve.

If you’re familiar with a dog’s behavior in a pack, you’d know that “subordinate” dogs look up to their “alpha leader.” Aside from letting the alpha leader get first dibs on everything, the subordinates feel that it is their alpha leader who will protect them from harm. Dogs see their masters as their alpha leaders (unless you let your dog dominate you), so they do look up to you for protection. So come New Year’s Eve, you’d have to know what to do in order to help your dog cope with the loud bangs from fireworks. Here are some ideas:

• If your dog normally stays outside in the garden, bring them inside the house (at least just for the night). They would feel more “protected” inside instead of outside where they get full blasts of the noise.
• If your dog has a cage, cover it with cloth.
• For small dogs, it’s best to keep them inside the bedroom or something. Our dogs (even the medium-sized ones) like to hide under the bed in packs whenever it’s New Year’s Eve
• Take some time off lighting and watching fireworks, and accompany your dog in his/her “corner.” Your dog will most likely find a dark corner in your house to hide, and it would really make them feel better if you take some time sitting with them. When Sheero was still alive, I used to let her and Harry cuddle up under my blanket on New Year’s Eve. I sometimes stay with them under the blanket (see the photos above). I missed some of the best fireworks displays, but seeing how scared my dogs were (Sheero was shaking and Harry’s heart was beating so fast I was afraid he’d have a heart attack), it was worth it
• There are some dogs, like Choknat, who respond to fireworks with curiosity instead of fear. The loud bangs made him jump, but his curiosity outweighs his fear—I had to drag him away from the window or keep him from getting sparks on his fur. He wanted to be part of the celebration, so my sister and I had to keep him on a leash under control while watching the fireworks and lighting up sparklers in the garden. Curious dogs like Choknat have to be kept under control as well on New Year’s Eve. They could easily be burned by fireworks (and God forbid, get hit by a stray bullet) if you let their curiosity run away with them.

These are just some reminders that could help your dog on New Year’s Eve, just some of the things that my family practices. If you know others, do share so our readers will be in the know come New Year’s Eve.

Happy New Year, everyone! Take care of your dogs, and KEEP SAFE!

Marc, my husband, and I normally bring our dogs to Animal House for check-ups and x-rays. My dad prefers the University of the Philippines Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital at Diliman, Quezon City for our dogs, but I guess we usually had somewhere else to go to after every vet visit that we’ve never really brought Sheero there. But last Wednesday and Thursday, we had nothing else to do but bring her. And frankly, we didn’t have much of a budget at the moment, so we really had no choice but to settle for a government-owned vet hospital.

Apparently, we made the right decision. Not only was UP Vet Med cheap (consultation is just Php100, approximately $2), but you’d be able to see that the vets are genuinely concerned about the animals. The fact that Marc and I are avid House MD (an American TV show) fans just adds a bit more fun to the experience—you see, the setting of the medical-inspired show was a teaching hospital as well. Lucky for us (and Sheero) that our vet wasn’t like Dr. House!

Sheero had been feeling weak lately, she just didn’t have her usual bounce (and snobbishness), so the vet had her go through extensive blood tests. Turns out that she had an infection and anemia.

The medicines Sheero had to take were actually more expensive than what we’ve spent for her blood tests and doctor’s fees. It was less than $11 all in all. But the best thing about it, Sheero’s showing great progress. Obviously, the doctor prescribed the right medicines. My baby is getting better! She’s now slowly getting back her “spoiled princess” manners

A friend of mine had once told me that their dog passed away because of a wrong dosage of Parvo anti-virus injection from UP Vet Med. I don’t know, I guess it would just depend on the attending vet. Or if your dog was treated by a vet student without proper supervision from a certified veterinarian.

If you need to bring your pet to the vet and you’re near the area, you can give the UP Vet Med hospital a try. Just make sure that the attending veterinarian is there to supervise your pet’s treatment. Demand for one if you have to, but they’ll be more than happy to oblige for sure If your pet needs an x-ray or lab work, make sure you don’t go there on a Wednesday—they don’t have lab and x-ray services that day. We had to bring Sheero back the following day for her blood work. Oh, and yeah. They treat all kinds of animals too: dogs, cats, iguanas, and whatever you there in your house!

Choknat wasn’t too happy about the bath either, but I guess he missed hanging out with me so much that he didn’t seem to mind at all:

Harry… Well, I really wouldn’t know if Harry didn’t like it. He didn’t complain, and he was back to his usual happy self even after the bath:

You can imagine how tiring it can be for me during my pets’ bath time. Luckily, my dad doesn’t require me to give our other 10 dogs baths, or I’d probably drop dead in exhaustion!

Sheero night-jogging at the Ateneo de Manila University campus

Except for a recent trip to Marc’s family’s house in Marikina last month, Sheero hadn’t been able to go out much. I’ve been very busy with design work ever since my husband resigned from his call center “day” job. Today was a very rare instance: I was actually awake in the morning. With all the work I needed to do for the day, I decided to take a walk going to a nearby store to get me some liver spread and corned beef before I tackled the pile of work ahead of me.

I took Sheero along. As I have said, it’s been a while since she had a walk (she usually just ran around our garden for exercise). Here are some things I’d like to share with you when walking a spoiled brat of a dog…

• Use a harness instead of just putting the leash on the collar. This is particularly handy if your dog isn’t very well-behaved. Spoiled brats have a tendency to want to walk ahead of you, trying to show you they’re the boss. Although Sheero considers me the “alpha female” in the house, she can get pretty excited during walks and tries to walk ahead. When that happens, the dog can choke on the pressure of her pull if the leash is attached to the collar. Other than that, if the collar is loose, the dog can squirm her way off the collar and get away.
• Bring a walking stick. There are quite a number of dogs roaming around our street (especially at night), and some of our neighbors leave their gates open in the morning. This can get pretty dangerous for your dog if they’re attacked. Dogs are very territorial, and when an unknown dog passes by, they want to show her that they own the place. A walking stick can come in handy when fending off other dogs if they try to attack your pet.
• Keep your dog close. If you got one of those high-tech adjustable leashes that can make the length easily adjustable, use it and keep the dog close to you. Sheero only has a chain leash, so I just shorten her leash manually by winding it on my hand. This gives you a degree of control over your pet while you’re walking, and makes it easier when crossing the street.
• Bring a poop bag. Even if your subdivision isn’t that strict when it comes to dogs pooping on the sidewalks, you might want to bring a poop bag so not to add work for the metro aids After all, it’s your dog. You should clean up after her if she makes a mess on the sidewalk!
• Head home when it gets too hot. I think this is quite self-explanatory. You wouldn’t want any of you dropping on the sidewalk because of a heat stroke

Hope that helps! I’ve been trying to fix my odd biological clock, so I might make this a regular thing for Sheero and me. Who knows? We might even lose some weight because of all the walking!