Boo's Flash: Episode 3 - Grad-ee-nation

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Boo's Flash: Episode 3 - Grad-ee-nation

May 17, 2024

From Boo

Hi, it’s Boo again. There’s been some excitement around our house recently. I don’t completely understand it, but they’re calling it grad-ee-nation, whatever that means. For me it just means yet another day where Mommy O and all the people disappear for hours and hours and ever and then come back and tell me they’re sorry we were bored. But it’s apparently something exciting for two-legged puppies, so there’s that. The younger two-legged puppy has been really stressed out for weeks and weeks and weeks about … well, I’m not really sure what. Something about ape exams and Cinderella and a bunch of other things. He talked about school ALL the time.

The older two-legged puppy apparently also had a grad-ee-nation, but they said he wasn’t as excited about it because he had lots more school to do. So I guess grad-ee-nation has something to do with school. He was also stressed out because he had to type and type and type at the computer over the last few weeks.

I don’t understand why the two-legged puppies are so stressed about this thing called “school”. I’ve been two school lots of times, and it was fun! I got to learn how to walk at Mommy O’s side without a leash, and sit whenever she stopped, and if I did it well, she gave me lots of cookies! I love cookies. We also went somewhere else where I got to do jumps jumps jumps, run through tunnels, go around barrels, and even walk across big pieces of wood. I got lots of cookies there also - mostly for “SHUTUPBOO”. I like to bark when I’m excited, and “SHUTUPBOO” means that if I stop barking, I get cookies. It’s hard to not bark when I’m excited, but I really like cookies, so I’m trying.

I also do school where I got jump-jump-jump-jump BALL!! That might be my favorite. But it’s funny at that school, because the other people yell “SHUTUPLYNDA” at Mommy O and joke about giving her cookies if she remembers to not talk to me when I’m going jump-jump-jump-jump-BALL. I can’t help it - as soon as she calls me I get so happy I open my mouth BIG and the ball just falls out. They’re happier when I bring the ball all the way back, but if Mommy O says anything I just SMILE so big and the ball goes bouncy bouncy away from me.

I did school with the Mommy I had in Florida too. I got to go swimmies, and learned how to stand-so-pretty while people petted me and told me how BOOtiful I was. I liked that too, and got cookies for it, but it wasn’t as much fun as chasing FRISBEES and BALLS and doing JUMPS and going through TUNNELS, and everything else that I get to do here.

Mommy O says not all dogs get to go to school like I do. That kind of makes me sad, because school can be SO MUCH FUN!! Especially when you get cookies and toys. I wish all dogs got to go to the schools I go to! I even had my own grad-ee-nation ceremony a few weeks ago at the jump-tunnel-jump places where they gave me a giant cookie!

And now from Dr. O

Happy graduation to everyone who made it through whatever school or training you have. It’s been a whirlwind at our house, and I really have felt bad that the dogs get left behind so often when we’re out doing “kid” stuff. And yes - my dogs do take a lot of classes. I highly recommend positive reinforcement based training for all dogs (and cats!) because it helps them gain confidence, become better “citizens,” and gives a busy dog or cat a way to focus their energy on something “good.” The opportunities are endless - from informal trick-training, to more formal obedience, agility, disc dog, flyball, hunt/retrieve training, tracking, nosework, barn hunt, and even useful things like searching for lost people or items, and detecting invasive bugs like the spotted lantern fly. (Boo doesn’t know it yet, but that’s next for her. Two of my other dogs have been started in spotted lantern fly detection already.)

I’m a big fan of classes, but there are lots of ideas for silly tricks you can teach at home and how to teach them. You can check out https://learn.domorewithyourdog.com/ for more information on trick dog titles - and yes, they also offer trick CAT titles as well. Here’s a great video of a cat that has learned a bunch of tricks. 30 Tricks To Teach Your Cat

Anyhow, it’s just a thought.

- Dr. O

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Boo's Flash: Episode 6 - Blood!

01 Nov, 2024

There are many reasons why a vet will collect blood from your pet, most commonly for routine lab tests and wellness panels. We occasionally will draw blood from donor pets for blood transfusions. Dr. O shares insights on screenings for comment pet diseases and other uses, all aimed at keeping pets healthy and happy with proactive care.