PETMATE FRESH FLOW RAIN FOUNTAIN

We've been spending a lot of time outside this summer enjoying our backyard patio.  The kids have had a great time playing with our Boxer puppy during these warm weather months. Of course, being outdoors that much involves the responsibility of making sure there is enough water available to keep our dog healthy and hydrated while spending time with us.  Water though can get stagnant when just left out in a bowl throughout the day. We found a convenient way to provide our puppy with fresh water all day with the Petmate Fresh Flow Rain Fountain.

The Petmate Fresh Flow Rain Fountain circulates water to avoid it becoming stagnant in the drinking bowl.  When the bowl is at its full mark, water starts to be pumped up to the top of the fountain where it then rains down into an upper see-through chamber.  This rain like flow perks pets' natural curiosity and entertains them as they watch it swirl from the fountain's top down through an upper water chamber and back into the drinking bowl.  Our dog is clearly amused watching the water circulate through the Petmate Fresh Flow Rain Fountain.

This electronic dog water bowl is 100% battery powered so it is portable to move around inside and outside no matter whether or not you have access to a power outlet. The fountain's water reservoir and pump are self-balancing so that gravity has water constantly flowing.  So the pump only has to run half the time.  This allows the fountain to run for months powered simply by four D-cell batteries (not included).

There are two spots for an animal to drink from.  Our dog likes to lick the top of the fountain as water is pumped out from the drinking bowl and trickles down into the upper chamber.

An ongoing stream of water also drops from the upper chamber into the drinking bowl.  Some pets will  enjoy to slurp the stream of water as it drops into the drinking bowl while others may prefer sipping from the drinking bowl itself.  We find our puppy regularly rotates among the various drinking options during the day while we keep the Petmate Fresh Flow Rain Fountain running for her.

Dogs do so much to enrich people's lives and the Petmate Fresh Flow Rain Fountain is a nice way to make your pet's life better.  With visual stimulation that will captivate both cats and dogs and a circulation system with replaceable charcoal filters that helps keeps drinking water fresh and clean, a Fresh Flow Rain Fountain is a great way to keep your pet happy and hydrated.

For more information about the Fresh Flow Rain Fountain or to purchase one for yourself, go to petmate.com

HARTZ HOME PROTECTION QUILTED PLUS DOG PADS

One of the things we found out about when picking up our new puppy to come live with us is that she had never been outside to poop or pee.  So the first time she'd ever relieved herself in the outdoors was at a highway rest stop along our route across the state from the Lake Michigan beach resort town of Holland, where the puppy was born, to her new home in the suburbs of Detroit with us.  So we are starting from scratch in regard to get her trained to do her business outside the house right from the get go.

Thank goodness Hartz Pet Products & Supplies had read about us getting this new addition to our family in one of my blog posts.  They kindly sent us some Hartz Home Protection Quilted Plus Dog Pads to help save our floors from being soiled by a puppy treating them as her toilet.  I have to admit that the first week we had the dog did not go smoothly when it came to her house training.  The Hartz dog pads really passed muster when it came to avoiding our carpets and hardwood floors from becoming smelly and stained by the puppy having accidents in the house.

We keep this bag of dog pads close by whenever the puppy is out of her pen.  If it looks like she is about to poop or pee and we can't get her outside in time, we hurriedly rush her onto one of the pads.  Liquid is absorbed by the pad into FlashDry Gel that keeps it from making a mess and these pads have a nice clean powder scent. They won't leak and are great at blocking odor to avoid your house from beginning to have a urine stink smell to it.

Since getting the dog we've been taking the puppy outside regularly to the exact same spot in our backyard and walk around there until she goes.  We then praise her and let the puppy have a dog treat.  This has been working out really well with us entering our third week of owning the puppy and she hasn't peed or pooped inside the house for four days in a row now.  Knock on wood!  Being that she is a puppy, we're still keeping those Hartz Home Protection Quilted Plus Dog Pads close by just in case.

From our experience, I recommend you check out this Made in the USA product from Hartz as part of your house training routine for puppies.  They just aren't useful for puppies though. Dogs that stay home inside alone all day on a regular basis can be trained to use these pads as their potty if they can't get outside because their family can't be around to let them out.  That can also be the case for ailing and incontinent dogs that can't hold their bladder long enough to get outside or have physical difficulties getting around.  Hartz Home Protection Quilted Plus Dog Pad also are useful for lining pet carriers or car seats while traveling with your pet.  Plus if you don't need them for preventing accidents, these pads also make great towels for drying wet, muddy canine paws and fur.

Hartz has been providing products that keep pets happy, healthy and thriving for more than 90 years. Visit hartz.com to see everything they have to offer that may be useful for your own pet. Plus keep coming back to ageekdaddy.com for updates to how my family is adapting to our new lifestyle as dog owners of a very energetic Boxer puppy.

MEET OUR NEW PUPPY NAMED PENNY

We just welcomed a new puppy named Penny into our house. She is a Boxer and we based the name on how her fur's fawn coloring resembled the shading of pennies.  Penny had been living with the family who owns her mom and dad until the puppies in her litter were old enough to be separated from their parents and had received their first check up and shots from a vet.  My kids had been counting down the days until it was time to bring her home and they are so excited to have their very first pet dog.

Penny is a very affectionate dog who loves attention and being played with.  She's an inquisitive and friendly puppy who has been adapting well to her new surroundings. My son and daughter of course have been having a lot of fun with her. 

Owning a dog isn't all fun and games though.  We have to get her house trained so she isn't pooping and peeing inside.  She actually hadn't gone potty outside before until we brought her home so training her to want to go outside is a big priority.  We have a few more veterinarian visits over the next few weeks as well to get all her medical requirements done properly. I'm also looking at signing up for a puppy obedience class to help get us off to a good start with this new addition to our family.  Hmmm....why don't they have obedience classes for toddlers? That sounds like it might have come in handy when my twins were the equivalent of being puppy aged!

Not familiar with Boxers? Here is some trivia on the breed from the American Kennel Club:

• Boxers emerged from a massive sized dog known as Bullenbeisser that were used across Europe for hunting bear, deer, and wild boar. Bullenbeisser eventually became extinct through cross-breeding but the Boxer emerged as a result.  Boxers are a mix of Bullenbeisser, British Bulldog and Great Dane and originated from breeders in Germany.

• Boxers were used by the German military during World War 1 as attack and guard dogs.  American soldiers discovered the breed while fighting overseas and brought the dogs back home with them.  Boxers didn't began to grow in popularity though as pets across the United States until the 1930s and '40s when the dogs began winning dog shows.  Boxers won Best in Show at Westminster in 1947, 1949, 1951 and 1970. Now they are consistently ranked as one of America's Top 10 favorite dogs.

• Despite being cross bred from dogs that were known for hunting and fighting, Boxers are very social animals with an intense attachment to people.  They are protective and patient with children making them an ideal family pets.  These dogs also are energetic, clownish and love to sit on people's laps.  In fact, Penny is sitting on my lap as I'm typing this. 

Stay tuned for more updates and stories about my family's experiences as we delve into life with a pet dog.

Boxer Puppy Update

We picked out a Boxer puppy from a litter a few weeks ago for a family pet.  It was recommended that the dog stay with her mother until it is eight weeks old so we haven't brought it home yet.  The people who own the puppy's mom and dad live near the Lake Michigan shoreline on the other side of the state from us, but despite the distance we've gone out a few times to visit this future addition to our family.

A Boxer was the breed we decided to get because they are known to be protective of children as well as very playful.  They also are short-haired dogs that don't require much grooming which also was a nice selling point for me in picking out a Boxer. It is supposed to be the "kids' dog" ... though we'll see how much I end up cleaning up after her once we actually bring it home.

There are two boys and two girls in the litter. We choose one of the girls because the males can grow to be 80 to 100+ pounds while the females tend to be around 40 to 50 pounds.  This way the dog is intimidating enough to serve as a watch dog but yet small enough for my wife and kids to handle and be comfortable around.  Of the two girls to choose from, we decided to go with the one that had the most white coloring mixed in with her fawn fur.

Though she's currently living a 3 three hour drive away from us, we've gone out a few times to visit her.  We wanted to make sure the puppy was familiarized with us before just pulling her away from the surrounding she has been accustomed to since being born.  In fact, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) recommends making an effort to socialize puppies with people as much as possible within the first three months of their lives. 

This is a time when sociability outweighs fear, and dogs' brains are most inclined to be comfortable with adjusting to new people and places.  Getting a puppy comfortable with the family they are living with during this early stage of life can have long-term benefits when it comes to shaping the dogs temperament.

Some tips on socializing puppies from the AVSAB include:

• Engage your puppy's senses through exposure to different sights, sounds, and smells as part of its day-to-day life;
• Gently handle and pet the animal so that it learns to accept the touching of all its body parts;
• Expose the dog to as many people, animals, places and situations as possible;
• Encourage your pet to explore and investigate the environment around it;
• and allow it to experience a variety of toys, surfaces and other stimuli.

The kids have been having a lot of fun playing with the puppy ... and the puppy seems to be enjoying getting to know them.  I'm glad we've made the extra effort to introduce her to our family's scents, sounds, and personalities instead of just suddenly bringing her home one day.  It looks like she is going to fit in just fine with our family.

We'll be bringing the Boxer puppy home in two more weeks when she turns 2 months old.  Stay tuned for more updates as we add this new addition to A Geek Daddy's family.