DogBoy's Dog BlogDog boarding, training, daycare and wellness in the Austin area

Noodle, I believe it’s story time!

Once upon a time, there was a short-legged, furry little Aussie Basset mix named Mr. Blue. A blue dapple guy with a friendly face, Mr. Blue loved coming to DogBoy’s to run and play, and to show other dogs how to play nicely too. Blue was a great leader in playgroup - a True Blue leader, if you will. He made sure all the other dogs minded their manners, and didn’t get snarky if he had a bad day. Tracey, his mom, loved the days he came to DogBoy’s as well, because that meant that she could focus on her work and Mr. Blue would come home tired and happy at the end of the day.

One day though, Tracey got a job in another state. We were so sad to see them go, but we knew Mr. Blue would go on to do great things no matter where he lived. Turns out that when they went away, Mr. Blue got so inspired that he decided to write a book - and True Blue Leadership was born.

Tracey and Blue authored True Blue Leadership—The Top 10 Tricks from the Chief Motivational Hound, a leadership bookwritten from the perspective of her 10 year-old rescue dog, Mr.Blue. Tracey’s book is inspired by her father, the late Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

Please join us Tuesday, September 27th from 4-6 pm at DogBoy’s Training & Wellness Center for Mr. Blue’s True Blue Leadership - Stop Playing Dead Tour. It will be a fun evening of festivities, a book signing (paw print!) by Mr. Blue himself, and a pawtography photo opp. Come meet Mr. Blue and his mom Tracey, and see what all the awesomeness is about. A portion of the proceeds from this special evening will be donated to the Austin Humane Society.

Watch Mr. Blue’s Video

To find out more, visit Tremendous Life Books on Facebook, or email DogGirl. Hope to see you this week at the event!

And they lived happily ever after.

Stay cool, and see you soon!

DogGirl

Copy Cat

Many of you know Pancake, our orange tabby barn cat. He’s very friendly and loves attention. And many of you have been surprised to see him in the office the last few months. What’s going on? Has Pancake retired from the barn to become an office cat?

For some time, there have been tell-tale signs that something was going on with Pancake’s health. His lip would swell sometimes, with what looked like insect bites, and they always seemed to go away. More serious were recurrent infections in Pancake’s paw that never seemed to fully heal. We here at DogBoy’s were concerned, and many of our great customers were concerned for him as well. We were worried it was something serious.

Finally we got a diagnosis: feline eosinophilic granuloma complex. Quite a mouthful! But what is it? Basically, it causes the growth of skin lesions in a cat’s mouth, feet, stomach, or other areas on its body. No one really knows what causes it; one theory is that allergies set off an immune response that goes awry. There is also some evidence that eosinophilic granuloma complex is genetic. And in Pancake’s case, the fact that he had a lesion on his paw made him more prone to getting infections in the affected foot.

The good news is that for most cats, this disease is manageable and there are a range of treatment options available. As Pancake recovers and gets back to his usual mischevious self, we will be consulting with our vets to determine what the next step will be. And whether he returns to the outdoors permanently to keep our other barn cat, Callie, company or embarks on another great adventure we here at DogBoy’s will make sure that Pancake is happy, healthy, and very well-loved. In the meantime, feel free to give him some attention. But watch out-if he’s feeling frisky he may try to nip you!

Update: Dr. Todd Riggan and the staff at White Rock Veterinary Hospital have given Pancake the go-ahead to return to the great outdoors. While he still loves to visit the office, he is happy to be free again!

The view of Bastrop fires from DogBoy's

Sunday was a pretty scary day for us here in Central Texas. A severe drought, mixed with high winds created the perfect storm for fires to erupt all over the surrounding areas, including Pflugerville. Understandably, you were worried, so Noodle and I are here with answers.

The Texas Forest Service told of 63 fires yesterday that burned close to 33,000 acres. Community Impact has all the details of the fires in our area. Everyone at DogBoy’s is keeping a close eye on the news, the dogs and the property. Currently, and thankfully, there are no fires in Pflugerville at the present time.

Here’s what we know:

DogBoy’s continues to maintain a defensible barrier to fire by cutting all the combustible materials away from the buildings and property, clearing surrounding brush, and cutting grass down to 1/2″. Many neighboring farms have plowed their fields, leaving little to burn. DogBoy’s kennels and training buildings are made of concrete, cement board, aluminum and tin, so the buildings are at low risk for catching fire.

Other pet care facilities in Austin such as Hip Hounds and Barking Springs have graciously offered up space for us in case we need to evacuate. If that ever were to happen, however, we would need extra help for transport. If you would like to join a call list of people nearby who could quickly help in a situation like this, please email me at doggirl@dogboys.com with your current email and cell phone. Ideally, we’d like to start a Google Huddle (group text alert), so if you’re on Google +, all the better!

Please know that we are doing all we can to stay on top of these events, and your dogs and their safety have our full attention now and always. Be safe out there, Y’all, and we will keep you informed if there are any changes.

With care,

DogGirl