1/4/2011
I was hoping to have some announcements regarding Grandpa Bailey's Spoiled Dog Kennel and our seniors domino league but things just are coming together. One roadblock after another. A new direction may be the best thing for everyone. Time will tell. French Roast is all gone and so am I. TA!
2/1/2011
I haven't mentioned the Grandpa Bailey Spoiled Dog Kennel for a while. You deserve an update. You may recall that my dear Canasta Club ladies all moved out east and bought a casino. Some have filtered back to the area, to be closer to family. Overall they did extremely well for themselves. When they left, it was quite a blow to me and my current wife, Sue. The economy being in the dumper like it was, I struggled to come up with a new niche that would have a good profit potential. I picked domino's. More specifically, a seventies and over domino league. I was never able to get it off the ground. All sorts of obstacles tripped me up. The venture has failed. Sue and I put out heads together again. After a long period of research we have decided to augment our Spoiled Dog Kennel.
We have traditionally offered dog sitting services for our Grand Dogs - Kinnick (the yellow Lab), Barney & Max (the black pugs). Along with that we also offered, dog walking, transporting and sleep-overs. Hourly, daily, weekly and monthly time frames. Pretty full service. Both of our daughters are single, work many hours and are very busy. There time is limited when it comes to exercising the dogs. Sue and I decided therefore to open a dog gym. Yes, a DOG GYM. Certainly a first in our area.
The dog gym will offer the grand dogs memberships which allows them to work out on the machines, lift weights and join classes all for a low monthly fee. We are excited about this. We are in the process of converting our Canasta Club/domino room into a dog fitness club. We have already installed the automatic waterers. The treadmills are being delivered this week. I have paw weights, weighted back packs and yoga mats on order. Sue and I have been taking classes so that we can become certified Dog Fitness Trainers. Not too many of these around. We should be able to open our doors around March 1st. We have developed a new logo, letterhead and a new business name - Grandpa Bailey's Spoiled Dog Kennel & Fitness Club (GBSDKFC).
Stay tuned for more info on this. It will be really exciting I think.
2/5/2011
The Grandpa Bailey's Spoiled Dog Kennel and Gym limo has a pickup this morning at 8:30. Kinnick has booked an overnight here at the kennel. This will actually be kind of nice because I need to get some measurements from him as I design some of the exercise stations in the Dog Gym. Have a great weekend everyone. TA!
2/11/2011
Dog Gym update. The renovation of the canasta club into the Dog Gym is proceeding nicely. I have had Kinnick, Barney and Max over to review our progress, to go over the plans and make suggestions. Barney really likes the solar tanning bed I had designed. It uses natural sunlight. He did suggest that we relocate it more directly under a south facing window. Sounded like a good idea. The boys have tried the paw weights with great success. The treadmill is a go also. I have made a balcony overlooking the rest of the club. On the balcony, we have placed the treadmills, elliptials and bikes. The boys haven't tried the bike yet, so they may need further mods. Under the balcony is the pool, whirlpool, sauna and steam rooms. At the suggestion of both Kinnick and Barney, we have added individual sleeping rooms. They are heated and cooled plus automatic waterers have been installed. We pipe in music and have 19" LCD TVs mounted on the wall. Barney particularly likes to watch football. Progress is being made every day and we are anxious to get it open.
2/17/2011
we have settled on a name for the dog gym. We are calling it "Grandpaw Bailey's Doggy Fitness Center. Kind of catchy I think. We have found a young person who is willing to provide grooming services one afternoon a week. She will give baths, trim and color nails, groom, and massages. The aqua center is complete. The water is being conditioned to get the pH just right. Solar tanning center is complete. All of the gym equipment has been installed. New paint and carpet has been installed and completed. It is just about ready to go. We are just waiting for the automatic waterers to be installed. I have been taking a course to become a certified trainer. We are pulling together schedules, forms for recording exercise sessions and personal training materials. In other words, we are pretty darn close. We are planning an open house and will invite Kinnick, Barney & Max plus their parents. I am excited.
2/22/2011
Grandpaw Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center
Thought I would share a portion of an instant messaging conversation between myself and Debby, the younger elder or whatever.
Debby: Barney, black pug (he is 7 years old), to schedule a chair message tonight while I'm at a meeting. Are there appointments available around 6:15?
Grandpa Bailey: Yes, I can fit him in. Would Max, black pug who is only 4, like to come over and do some laps outside?
Debby: Max would like to use the outdoor track but not if it is raining or snowing.
Grandpa Bailey: I'm sorry but I don't have any rain gear yet. I can have him do some sprints with a ball.
Debby: Max does enjoy sprints. He is training for Flyball.
Grandpa Bailey: Great, its a date.
Debby: Sounds good, the boys will like the club tonight. Thanks for squeezing the boys in to the club tonight?
Grandpa Bailey: No problem. Glad to be able to serve you and the boys.
The boys arrived at the appointed time. After the meet and greet and after their mom left, we got down to business. I gave Barney his chair message. Oh, he had the biggest smile on his face. He really enjoyed it. Both, Barney & Max, spent a good amount of time outside running laps around the track. They tried out the "doggie pee & poop" Eco-friendly waste elimination area that I installed. They seemed please with the way things came out. Max was really into the ball sprints. He just never runs out of energy. Barney tried out the bicycle leg exercises. He really was peddling. Both boys were allowed to wind down, slowed the heart rate and cooled off plus I got them to relax with a short nap. Debby picked them up and seemed pleased with how things went.
Several neighbors are clamoring to become members of this fictional doggie fitness center. What can I say? I knew it was a great idea. We are onto something here. I can't wait to hook up with them to explain the program, do a fitness evaluation to establish beginning benchmarks, define their objectives and hopefully get theirs dogs signed up. We are planning the open house. It will be huge.
2/28/2011
Barney got me good the other day. We were talking, you know like Grandpas and Granddogs do from time to time. I asked him if he had seen the cartoon of the dog walking out of an "Adult Dog Store". He indicated that he had not seen that one. I repeated, "There was this dog walking out of an Adult Dog Store carrying a box with an inflatible leg in it." I thought it was pretty cute but Barney didn't see the humor in it. We chatted along for a while between interruptions by Max. Barney tells me about the time him and Max were in this bar sipping some cool ones. They both noticed, at about the same time, that they were the only ones with collars. Suddenly, they realized they were in "stray" bar. Barney really went nuts with that one. His tail wagged at 60 mph. and had a big grin on his face. Max was hooting it up too. They got one on Grandpa I guess. I fell for it completely.
We will be opening the Doggie Fitness Center March 15th with a grand opening celebration. Sue and I have most of the plans put together, doggie cakes and treats have been ordered, and the final touches have been put on the center. We are so excited that Barney, Max and Kinnick will have a place to workout and train. With the pool, Kinnick can practice dock diving year around instead of just the summer months. We predict he will be able to increase his distance by 30 to 40%. Likewise, Max will be able to train for Flyball. He has the speed now but needs to get under control more. Barney, well he just wants to maintain his stud muffin look. He is all about image. Barney will literally love the solar tanning booths. Can't wait.
3/18/2011
The Grandpaw Bailey Fitness Center had its grand opening on Tuesday. What an event. I will fill you all in when we get this syndrome curtailed. Just let me say, all of the dogs really liked my trainers - Bob and Jilian. They really got everyone motivated. Daughter Debby, the younger elder, got pumped up. She has taken Barney & Max on walk/runs the past couple of days. Not just around the block, oh no, not her. She walks the first mile. Barney & Max do pretty well with this. Then she turns around and JOGS back home - another mile. Now Barney & Max do not really think this second mile is a good time. They have to run also. You may remember that they are pugs. Eighteen pounds of pure lazy dog. Barney's idea of a good workout is catching some rays in the solar tanning station. Debby related that on the way back, they looked for anything that they could pee on. Anything for a little break you see. She thought she might have to carry Barney back. They apparently are sleeping VERY well these days.
3/28/2011
Since we last spoke, we have had the open house gala at the doggie fitness center. What a night it was. I found a guest host for the night who was a hoot. He really kept the crowd entertained with his jokes and stories, many of them about dogs he has known. Like the one about the three-legged dog who came into the bar. The bartender asked "What can I get for you?" The dog replied, "Nothing, I was just looking for my PAW!" Kinnick, a joker himself, thought the dude was really funny and was rolling with laughter. Barney on the other hand didn't see so much humor. I found that odd because Barney is a consummate prankster himself. I had the staff demonstrating various pieces of equipment while Sue, my current wife and I led groups through the facility showing off all of the neat features of the doggie fitness center. We had numerous people come up expressing their complete fascination with the idea of physical fitness for dogs. I invited people to stop by during a week day to see it in action. The dogs got a little playful as you can imagine. There were the usual chases and tug of war going on but for the most part pretty tame. That is until about 9:30 pm. I don't honestly know how this got started but I suspect Barney, the prankster pug, may have thrown a hip into Max who was standing by the pool. Max took a header into the pool. The next thing you see are dogs diving into the pool, splashing and dog paddling all around. Max did not think this was funny at all. Max HATES the water. Poor thing. He paddled frantically trying to get to the pool ladder but other dogs kept getting in his way. By the time I realized what was going on, I looked at Max. His fear filled eyes were the size of half dollars. He was terror stricken. I jumped in and rescued him before he went under. He was shaking and had a death grip on my neck. Looking back on it, it was pretty funny. The dogs played in the pool for a while longer before we closed it for the night. The open house ended at 10:00 pm. We were really tired but quite satisfied with the turn out and compliments we received.
Since the open house, the center has been going gang busters. Kinnick kicked off his visits with a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday daytime stay. Barney and Max were here for two days straight including an overnight in our penthouse kennel suite. They left on Friday just before Kinnick arrived for a two day and two night stay of his own. We barely had time to change the bedding and get the suite cleaned up before he arrived. It appears as though Kinnick will be a daytime regular for a while. He mentioned that his Mom has their house up for sale and he is staying here during the day in case the realtor shows it. Good idea for him to stay here. That gives us time to work on his conditioning. We have started him on a conditioning regime that will get him ready for summer and get rid of those extra pounds put on in the winter.
3/30/2011
Yes Kinnick was here yesterday hanging out during the day. He is coming to the fitness center Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I can't read whether he likes this internment in the Grandpaw Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center or not. He attacks the exercises with gusto and gives us 110 percent effort. But I did catch him outside sunbathing in the afternoon without sunscreen when he should have been running laps. Any ideas about doggie sunscreen? I can't seem to find any.
4/5/2011
Another big week at the Doggie Fitness Center. Kinnick is in week 2 of his boot camp training. I think he is getting the hang of it pretty well. I took him on a road trip yesterday. I hauled my current wife, Sue, around delivering a newsletter she publishes. We stopped for gasoline also along the way. Sure am glad I have a home equity line of credit. My 14 gallons of petrol just about cracked $50 bucks. As our daytime temps get into the 50's or higher, my trainers work with Kinnick outside more and more. He absolutely loves working up a sweat outside. He has always been good with Fetch and Return but we have enhanced this activity. The intensity has risen quite a bit. We have talked about the neighborhood dogs off and on. They are really jealous. They stand outside the fence staring with their mouths open and tails wagging. Occasionally we will hear a jealous yelp but for the most part they just want to join in. Maybe someday in the future we will offer a free neighborhood dog day or something.
Barney & Max are scheduled for Thursday, I believe for 3 days. Their mother, Debby the younger elder, is accompanying a gaggle of her girlie friends to Minneapolis for a shopping frenzy. There will probably be a pair of shoes in her bag somewhere. She seems to have developed her Grandmother's fetish for shoes you see. The pug boys will be worked out pretty hard too. They have really gotten soft over the winter. Their harnesses are getting a bit snug. I envision a lot of treadmill time. Barney will also utilize the solar tanning bed also. That is his thing. In addition to the treadmill, Max will be training for FlyBall. He needs work on his technique.
4/12/2011
To start with the Grand Pugs were at the fitness center from Thursday to Sunday afternoon. The trainers really worked them out during this time. The weather being nice, they were outside most of the time. They ran laps, played tug of war, went for walks and used the solar suntan beds. We equipped them with paw weights. They didn't really like these. I had pug tongues hanging out each day. I took them on a road trip to Kinnick's house on Saturday. They played with Kinnick outside most of the afternoon. He was showing them some of the exercises he has to do at the fitness center. Max didn't think it was too bad but Barney wanted nothing to do with them. I took them home Sunday afternoon. I really didn't think I would ever see these dogs completely exhausted to the point that they couldn't wait to get back home but this was the time. They couldn't get out of the car and into the house fast enough. I think their stay got them on track to lose some weight they gained over the winter if I can keep them motivated. Pugs don't have the longest retention span.
4/17/2011
The weather has been rather nasty here lately, cold and blustery. My granddogs have had to workout inside at the health club. Doesn't make them too happy I'll tell you. Kinnick has been working on his dock diving technique trying to lengthen his distance. Summertime is prime competition time. Along with working on technique, we have been working on building up the muscles in his legs. The trainers have fitted 6 ounce paw weights on each leg plus they have a backpack that he wears with a bottle of water on each side. He then puts in at least two miles on the treadmill. One mile walking and the other mile running. After that they put him on a balance ball thing. It looks like half of a big ball with a solid platform on it. It increases his balance. Kinnick does not like that one bit. All of the dogs get some time in the sauna to open the pores and help them relax - like they need help with relaxing. We monitor them closely in the sauna because the pugs can easily overheat.
The dogs have not gotten the hang of the indoor pee and poop stations we installed. These are state of the art contraptions, very sanitary. The dog walks up to the pee station, for instance, straddles the receptacle and proceeds to eliminate his waste. The waste is immediately flushed into a holding tank and a shot of water goes upward cleansing the appropriate area. Next, the dog advances to the turf area where he scratches the turf up with his paws. The shot of water has the dogs spooked. They just can't seem to get used to it. They get shot with the stream of water and they jump like there was a spring under them that shot them straight up. I don't know why. Maybe the water is too cold. We will keep working on that. The service tech did indicate that it may take a while for them to get used to it. I guess he was right. Probably should have been a red flag for me.
4/19/2011
Had a full day at the fitness center yesterday. Kinnick was here during the day. He comes in 3 days a week. Last night the pugs were here for the evening session. I gave Kinnick a treat for being so dedicated to his workout schedule by taking him to Pet Smart. We shopped for his birthday present. He will be 6 years old on the 23rd. He was like a kid in a candy store or maybe a dog in a pet store. He went nuts with his nose - so many smells. Up and down the aisles we went. He would nose the snack, bone, toy and etc. that he liked. He has a discriminating palate(nose) you know. We met a 9 week old bulldog. He was sooooo cute. Kinnick gave him a woof just to put him on notice. Point taken! Kinnick knows the routine at this store better than I do. I pushed the cart up to the checkout. Kinnick just pushed me out of the way and went ahead of me, sat down in front of the clerk, put on his big goofy smile, wagged a tail. I was not sure what he was doing but by gosh, out came a couple of dog biscuits that he politely but quickly scarfed down. Home we went with our purchases.
Max, the younger black pug, has his birthday on the 25th. He will be 5 years old. Kinnick helped me pick out a couple of presents for him. They are having a birthday party on Saturday. The cake is ordered. There may be a doggy cookie and ice cream treat also. I'm sure we will have pictures to share. Let's hear it for these guys. They deserve a BIG shout out.
The pugs, Barney & Max, worked out for a couple of hours last night. They needed to use the facilities shortly after arriving so I led them to the European pet bidet. I could not get them to use the indoor facilities. Barney absolutely refused to straddle the elimination pit because he knew the squirt of water would be coming. Max is always second in the pecking order so he wouldn't even get close to the contraption. Outside they go to do their thing and, of course, we follow with our baggy to remove their leavings immediately. Must maintain the lush green carpet of grass. This area is a multiple use exercise and group outdoor game area. Wouldn't be cool to get dodo on your shoes or paws you see.
They completed their stretching and warm up exercises inside, next we went back outside to meet up with the girls next door to run laps. Max is training for flyball and must increase his speed so he ran sprints with the neighbor girl dog. I think he has a little crush on her anyway. Max gets to going so fast, his curled up tail straightens out straight behind him. That is when I know he is really giving me 100%. Barney, on the other hand, is working on cardio so he is more of a jogger. He needs to lose a few pounds, therefore, he jogs his laps. They came in, hydrated then proceeded to work on the agility equipment after which they were ready for cool down, stretching and massages. All in all, good workouts by everyone.
4/26/2011
Yet another rainy Tuesday in Iowa. Cool and wet. Great! My grand dogs are anxious to get training outside on a consistent basis. Oh, they do well in the fitness center. I mean they have everything they can possibly think of except the smell of fresh air. Kinnick is here today. On his plate are 2 sessions on the treadmill with 4 ounce paw weights. He will get a half hour in the pool swimming laps then an hour practicing dock diving. He will get a lunch and an hour nap mid-day. Depending on how the afternoon session goes, he will probably spend some time in the sauna or whirlpool.
5/14/2011
Kinnick, Jenny the elders yellow lab, has allergies. What a bummer for a dog. He has them bad. He takes a step or two, sits and scratches someplace. Poor thing. As a result, I have curtailed his training regimen at the Grandpa Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa. He is on medication for a week or so. It has really done its job. He is not itching all now which is great because he was getting some sores under his armpit(or legpit). The downside is ggfdsaCVZXzFDSAEWQ "Crap!" I just spilled some French Roast on the keyboard and had to wipe it up quickly. I apologize for the inconvenience. I think we are back on track now. I was afraid that the coffee with 6 teaspoons of sugar may gum up the keys.
5/24/2011
Grandpa Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa
It was a busy week for the staff at the Center last week. Kinnick, the yellow lab, has a bad case of allergies. He was itching like crazy even to the point of creating sores. Jenny, the elder, took him to the Vet and Kinnick was put on regime of anti-allergy pills. The side effects are increased thirst and increased need to eliminate the increased water in-take. His energy level is a bit subdued also. When he has a need to eliminate the fluids, he just goes and goes and goes. We have counted as high as 65. I have to relate a story about Kinnick's patience and need to mind his master. Last Monday, Jenny decided he could stay home all day. She went home at lunch time to let him out. After work she had a need to make a stop at a store on her way home. This delayed her arrival by about 30 minutes. When she got home, Kinnick had an URGENT need to go outside. Next she noticed slight traces of leakage going from room to room. Obviously, he was desperately trying not to have an accident inside but was feverishly trying to find a solution. Poor thing. He really is such a GOOD Dog. Proud of him. Obviously, we have had to modify his training regime to compensate for his affliction. A good deal of training is being conducted outside.
6/1/2011
At the fitness center - the doggie one (Grandpa Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa), we had an inter-neighbor race contest. My granddogs, Barney & Max, MacBlu's granddog girls, and the neighbor behind us entered his 2 ladies. We had sprints, relay races and marathons. MacBlu's granddogs matchups and a lot of barking and yelling. Quite fun. Who won? That is a good question. Barney was okay in the sprints but pooped out quickly in the marathons. Max was a goer in everything but I think the marathon edge went to the MacBlu ladies. They seemed to have the most stamina. Backyard Dude girls came in third place, pretty much tied with each other. Max was a second in the marathon. He kept up really well but faded right at the end. In the sprints, Max was the winner by far. That little guy can fly. He ran circles around all of the others even when he would have to jump over Barney who was kind of loafing. Way to go Max. Barney is more of a lover I think than an athlete. It was cool because all of the dogs in the neighborhood were chiming in with their barks. They were pretty evenly split with who they were backing. I think we had better not do that again for a while. I am afraid the animal control people might stop by.
6/7/2011
Received a call
from Debby, the younger elder or whatever. She booked the "boys" into
the fitness center Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There will be sleep
overs on Friday and Saturday nights. As I posted the reservation, I
noticed that Kinnick that he is scheduled from Friday to Sunday of next
week. Another 3 dog night. It appears as though Sue, with her face,
and I will have a couple of sleepless nights. Pugs and Labs take up
some room in bed. This reminds me of a movie, "Sleepless in Cedar
Rapids" or something similar to that.
We
are planning another in the series of neighborhood dog Olympics for
Saturday, weather permitting. This will be the second in the series. I
hope my group represent themselves better than the last time. They
didn't place to well overall.
7/5/2011
I had what I thought was a brainstorm the other day. Jenny and my current wife, Sue didn't quite see it as viable though. You see I thought that with the success of our Grandpa Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa that I could expand it by taking this service to my clients. Going mobile seemed like a great idea. No one is doing it, it's a way to bring this service to everyone. Everyone is busy and on tight schedules these days. Seems like a great concept to me. However, since our family lives by democratic principles, I was out voted 2 against and 1 for. I am usually on the short side of any family vote. I think this may be gender based since there are 3 females and 1 male in my family. Don't know for sure, just sayin'!!
7/28/2011
The Grandpa Bailey Doggie Fitness Center and Spa of course is closed this week while we are out of town. One of our daily pets, our Granddog Kinnick, went under the gas today. He had his annual teeth cleaning and also some minor surgery. He came through great I am told. We will be anxious see all of our dogs when we get home. I have been noticing in the trade rags that doggie treadmills are really taking off. Sales are going to town on the coasts. My solar suntanning bed doesn't seem to get the same traction as the treadmill. Just our best kept secret I guess.
8/24/2011
Kinnick is staying at Grandpa Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa this week. He has been doing well as usual. He is adjusting to the daily intense workouts. I don't think he particularly likes it when his Mom goes out of town because he has to sweat instead of sleep all day. That reminds me. You may remember when I first opened the fitness center I had installed a French doggie bidet. I had all sorts of trouble with them. The dogs just couldn't get comfortable with them, especially the spritz of water at the conclusion. I had no choice but to remove them. Last week Yvette stopped by. Yvette is a sales rep with the French doggie bidet company. She wanted to show me the new model they have come out with. Apparently, I wasn't the only customer to complain. This model has several enhancements including adjustable spritz pressure, adjustable nozzle pattern, and a treat feature when elimination is successful. Going against my better judgement I agreed to let them install just 1 of the units at no cost to me. I also negotiated on-sight 3 day training for me as well as the doggie users. More on that next time. It is being installed today.
8/30/2011
Now H wants the fitness center to add a "Silver Paws" program for dogs over the age of 10. I was pretty interested until I learned I would also have to "paw" language may be necessary for the hearing impaired PLUS seeing-eye trainers to assist those dogs that are sight impaired. I am looking for volunteers. Here is part of our conversation.
H: Lucy has been asking about your "Silver Paws" program.
Me: I will get my peeps to get with you. We do have quite a Silver Paws program as you are aware. I think Lucy would have a great time if she can put up with the geezer dogs.
H: I assume that your facility meets all ADA requirements and can meet the special needs of a blind, deaf, diabetic dog!
Me: ADA? Hmm - All Doggie Association? I will have my peeps check this out. We are all about special needs you know. Can Lucy bark in doggie sign language?
H: Yes, she is fluent in Beagle, Lab, and Terrier. Her Pug is a little rusty...she says they talk funny because of their noses.
Me: I find Pug a little difficult myself. I think it is the accent.
End of discussion so far. I'm waiting for my "peeps" to report back. As one can imagine there are a lot of things to consider. Not the least of which is how will the all-male population treat Lucy? Lucy is older so she knows how to handle herself but I wouldn't want to create an environment where there could be abuse if you know what I mean. We will see how this plays out.
On a related note, Yvette, the rep for the French Doggie Bidet, has been in with her service tech. He installed the latest model of the doggie bidet. It sure has a lot of bells and whistles that the earlier model did not have. I am anxious to give this new one a try with fresh eyes. Everything is adjustable. It even has a remote control. Things like spray pattern, stream intensity, angle of the stream, a #1 & a #2 stream, stream duration, air dry blower on/off, air dry temperature, air dry timer, automatic flush cycle and on and on. This appears to be a great improvement. The rep and tech will come back next week to give paw on training.
9/6/2011
I am really getting pumped with these French Doggie Bidets. I have been playing with them and the remotes all weekend. They are really cool. I can handle any kind of unique needs a dog can present me. I have been trying everything. Like adjusting for a short legged dog like a daschund or a big boy like a Mastiff. You can imagine each breed has different requirements for both male and females. Did I mention the system has 57 presets for different breeds. I punch in LABM and I get the preset for Labrador - Male. Like most presets they are only average or general settings. You need to fine tune the setting depending on the dog. The remote also can store settings for up to 99 dogs. Just type in a dog's name of special initials and it recalls the settings you have set up. Pretty darn sophisticated.
Here is how it works. One dog at a time enters the pre-stage area which is funnel shaped. It walks up to a gate and touches its nose to a sensor, the walls of the Tinkle Area move in or out depending on the dog's body and the gate opens. The dog enters the Tinkle Area. Next, the operator selects a preset, a specific dog setting, or sets the various adjusts manually. The operator can see the dog over a closed circuit TV. While the dog is in the Tinkle Area, soothing music is played, the dog's favorite food scent is blown in and he is entertain with a short video. The dog will squat, raise a leg, do the classic stretch/tail up position, or the #2 scrunch. When finished, the operator presses a button, squirts the warm water and blows the warm drying air. The dog exits to the scratch & sniff area. Here the dog performs his/her paw scratches, sniffs around to see who has been there before them. When finished, the dog punches a button with their nose, get a treat and exit the unit. This is a pretty sophisticated machine. It can be set to be totally automatic but for now, I am having an operator assist the animals so they can feel safe and secure when eliminating their waste.
I don't want to bore you to death with the doggie bidet stuff so I will address the process we use to dispose of the waste. This is a whole other system. I hope this helps those of you that have expressed an interest in learning more about the system. Many of you are pet owners and are looking for a "green" system for your home. We are extremely interested in saving our environment and our natural resources. That is why we go to these extremes in pet waste management. Sure it would be easier to let them go outside, do their duty and come back in. That has its drawbacks also. I can't say too much at the moment but there may be a simplified system available for the home. Really on the drawing board as I understand. Yvette shared a little with me a couple of days ago. Did I mention she has very pretty blue eyes?
9/13/2011
Yvette and her tech were in last week. We held some training classes on the correct usage of the French Doggie Bidet installation. My guinea pigs were Kinnick, Max and Barney. You may remember Yvette; she was the one with gorgeous blue eyes. Some of the dogs picked up the process quicker than others. Kinnick is a pretty straight shooter. He has really only two tinkling positions - the squat, tail erect and the fire hydrant leg lift. The Bidet now can easily adjust to these two positions. We introduced Kinnick and he had the process down after 3 tries. That just goes to show you how smart the Labs are. Next up was Max. Max, the younger pug, essentially tinkles the same way as a predecessor. He mimics others and doesn't have an original tinkle position that I have seen. Now pugs can be stubborn at times but Max approached the training with an open mind. He seemed relaxed as Yvette brought him into the Bidet. Once in there, Max seized up. He became stiff as a board, paralyzed with fear. Oh Boy, Max isn't going to get it. Yvette took charge. My hats off to her, she was patient, reassuring, and batted those big blue eyes at Max. He relaxed almost instantly after seeing those blue eyes. Max, you see, is a lover and can't resist a good looking woman or dog. Max passed the training after several tinkling tries. Yvette showed me some techniques to use including the soothing music with the sounds of a seashore.
Barney proved to be a project. Barney, the elder pug, is a free spirit. He does what he wants, when he wants. He isn't much of a lover. He is more like the pack bully, but in a nice way. Well Barney strutted into the Bidet, thinking there may be a treat to be had. He didn't realize that he would have to tinkle first. Again Yvette to the rescue. She gained Barney's trust and he tinkled, got squirted and blow dried then enjoyed his treat. I wish I had a photo of the look on his face after he tinkled. It was priceless. Shocked would come close to describing the look. Barney has the standard tinkling position like Kinnick and Max but Barney has another tinkling position that is rather unusual. He squats; tail curled, begins tinkling and all at once rises up on his front feet while lifting the back feet off the ground. Yes, both rear legs are of the ground while he tinkles. Never have seen that one. Hats off to the designers of the Bidet, it handled Barney's unusual posture without a problem. Barney FINALLY got the hang of it after what seemed like an eternity.
When it comes to #2, all three subscribe to the same basic posture. It is kind of a downward dog position with the back arched, rear legs become tucked under near the front legs. This posture usually is accompanied by a rather pained, intense expression on their faces. When complete they go through a simulated covering maneuver kicking up grass behind them. The Bidet worked like a champ again. When elimination, wash, and blow dry are over, they are released to the scratching area where they can "cover up" their business and get their treat. I am really impressed.
The tech was training me and the other trainers on the machine controls. We spent a considerable amount of time with the remote control. Actually, it took us longer to learn how to control the unit than it took the dogs. I think the dogs recognize how nice this will be when the weather is nasty outside. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
9/20/2011
Grandpa Paw Bailey's Fitness Center & Spa is almost completely booked starting Thursday. The pugs, Barney & Max are booked for a long weekend. They sent their Mom, Debby the younger elder or whatever, to a cranberry festival in Wisconsin. Is the cranberry really worthy of its own festival? Rumor has it that a caravan of ladies will be motoring that way. Sorry I am going to miss it!
I have had a number of Drivelers (is that a word?) inquiring about the French Doggie Bidet. There seems to be a lot of interest in this device. Readers have told me that they are following the blog to see how my trial works out. I think they are interested in a home version of the bidet for their dogs. With winter coming, who can blame them for wanting an indoor solution? Yvette, the blue-eyed sales gal, has told me that they are looking at that market. Maybe we will see these in Menard's at some point, who knows. I see that this is already getting lengthy; I have so much I wanted to cover today. I was going to present to you the details of the waste collection system as this is really the heart of the device but I will have to delay that discussion until another time. I will say that I called Samantha's Sewer Sucking Service yesterday. My holding tank was already 3/4 full already and I didn't want to wait until full. I can't risk a spill of waste products. If that ever happened, the s**t would hit the fan. No, I mean it would literally hit the fan. There is a fan down there that is used as part of the odor control module. That would a nasty mess to clean up.
10/4/2011
We had a great week at Grandpaw Bailey's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa. The improved French Doggie Bidet we installed recently is working great. The dogs are taking to it really nicely. We have had very few "accidents" to clean up. Actually, the one greatest improvement seems to be the warm water flush the dogs get when completing their elimination task. As I think back to the original installation which just used regular water, the dogs would jump and howl like crazy when hit in the "privates" with a blast of cold water. I think that was the main reason they didn't take to the first one. I can't say I blame them.
Our doggie training regime has been very successful. We have had a good time learning new techniques and the dogs have responded really well. A lot of thanks go to people on the Internet for their postings and tips. Here is a link to a video example of doggie squats. http://www.collegehumor.com/video/4042464/dog-exercises-with-owner. Just copy and paste this in your browser. You may want to try this with your dog.
We employ a lot of other training methods and we try to tailor them to the breed and the dog's personality. There is cycling, flyball, agility training, Frisbee, fetching, jogging, doga (doggie Yoga), tug of war, and freestyle (dancing with your dog). We have set up an earthen pit so our diggers can get the claws into something. Something that is really exciting is our scent maze. All of our dogs love this. We create a maze which a dog, one at a time, will negotiate using only their nose. We deposit a scent along the correct path through the maze. If they successfully negotiate the maze a treat awaits them. Max, the pug, has the speed record so far. With nose to the ground he races through the maze, scarfs down the treat without chewing it and wants to go again. What a silly goose. He needs to work on his dining habits or maybe develop some dining habits.
10/11/2011
Just read an article from the Dog Whisper, Caesar Milan, regarding whether tug of war with your dog is good or bad. Now I listened to this twice and I still am not certain if it is good or bad. As nearly as I can tell he is telling us that it depends. I was concerned that Grandpaw's Doggie Fitness Center and Spa was going be forced to drop this popular exercise. I will leave it in as long as no one gets hurt. Debby, the younger elder and Barney's mother, brought to my attention that Barney's tummy is not getting tanned like the rest of him. Barney LOVES the solar tanning bed. We have 2 of these in the fitness center. He likes them so much I named one of them for him. I decided I would watch Barney when he used the tanning bed. Surely, he would turn over from time to time to get an even tan. Wrong! Barney, I discovered has a little problem when it comes to the tanning bed. He crawls onto the bed, dog-face down and begins his session. When the session is over Barney is in the same dog-face down position. It seems as though the poor pug falls asleep on the tanning bed. No wonder his tummy doesn't tan, it never sees the light. I promised his mother that I would personally watch him and roll him over half way through his session. I suggested that she let him get more sleep at home.
11/29/2011
The holiday was uneventful for the most part. The weather was
great - nice and warm. I opened the fitness center Monday morning only
to be greeted with the foulest odor imaginable. The weather had turned
cold, more typical of November. Apparently, my beloved French Doggie
Bidet underground septic system had frozen, a pipe burst and untreated
doggie dodo and pee pee spilled all over. Yuk!!!! "Um, Hello Yvette?
This is Grandpaw Bailey's Fitness Center and Spa and we have a
problem." Click. The phone went dead. Before long Yvette, with her
big blue eyes and the tech guy are at the fitness center. Having ranted
and raved, screamed and gestured as best as I could while gazing into
those blue eyes, Yvette took command. She ordered this and that, got
cleaner on sights. It was like a tornado. Boy am I impressed. Within
hours we were back in full operation. She deserves those big blue eyes I
tell you. Seems as though the tech guy forgot to winterize the septic
system the last time he was here. I really am grateful for their quick
actions. You can only imagine how disgusting it was and having dogs
tracking all over. Whew!
Some of
my dogs at the fitness center are entering the "mature" age group. I
always want to stay on the cutting edge when it comes to doggie fitness.
I began thinking about designing a low impact cardio exercise program
for our seniors. I plan on getting with Kay, one of the instructors at
my gym. She loves dogs and would be a natural consultant to design a
Silver Paws class. I am excited with the concept. I hope Kay can help
me with it. Shoot we may even franchise it, who knows where this could
lead.
12/6/2011
We are closing the Grandpaw Bailey Fitness Center and Spa from Dec. 16 through Jan. 3. I wanted the staff to enjoy the Christmas season and this was my present to them this year. They can enjoy their family and friends without worrying about having to work. I am looking forward to some quiet time also. This year has been a busy one and I feel blessed to have had this experience. I am looking forward to next year. Of course, the Grand dogs, Barney, Max and Kinnick will be here for Christmas day. They are a hoot opening presents. Kinnick especially gets into the opening thing. That reminds me, I have to finish getting the tree up and decorated. Just a busy time of the year for us. Tomorrow, we get a bedroom window installed. Can't wait. No more snow wafting across my face. It will be a big improvement. Once done we have only the kitchen window and dining room to replace. Maybe next year for those.
12/16/2011
We have the fitness center closed for the holidays. I wanted the staff to enjoy the end of the year plus, I wanted some time to get some things done. Sue's unexpected difficulties have not really freed me up to much yet but I now have time to clean the place up. We needed a really good cleaning after the sewer backup from the French Doggie Bidet. We cleaned once but I want to do a real thorough one now. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a very nice fruit basket from Yvette. Remember, Yvette with the big blue eyes? She is the sales rep for the French Doggie Bidet company. That was really thoughtful of her. I have decided to install an obstacle course inside plus some agility exercise equipment. Should be fun. I have high hopes for both Kinnick and Max but I think Barney feels he is above such nonsense so I don't expect too much from Barney. Barney is seven years old now and is not the athletic type. He really loves the solar tanning bed though.
