BarkSpot

Welcome to BarkSpot from Bark PDX, a blog dedicated to our pets and our lives and adventures with them. Here we will share ideas, information, news, links, fun stories, anecdotes and basically everything pet and animal related.

A Fallen Fellow Animal Lover, R.I.P. Patrick Swayze

I must have watched “Dirty Dancing” , “Ghost”, “Point Break” and “Red Dawn” at least a million times each. Sadly today, Patrick Swayze, a fellow animal lover, passed away at 57 years old from a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Hopefully his furry friends were able to provide him with some comfort in his difficulty times. We will all miss you Patrick! Thank you so much for everything you did for us while you were here. What’s your favorite Patrick Swayze movie/line? Dirty Dancing - “Nobody puts baby in the corner”.

Welcome to BarkSpot from Bark PDX, a blog dedicated to our pets and our lives and adventures with them. Here we will share ideas, information, news, links, fun stories, anecdotes and basically everything pet and animal related.

Dogs and Bees, Not an Awesome Combination

Happy Labor Day everyone (belated)! We’ve been pretty busy pet sitting since last Thursday and appreciate your patience as we were not able to update the blog recently as a result. We are back in the saddle now and excited to be writing again. So, the other day I took my dogs to a nearby field slated for future development. One of those areas that is beautiful now, but will someday be graced by 100’s of cookie cutter row houses that lack both charm and quality. Coming here with my dogs is nothing new, we probably make it here at least once daily. What is new however, is the experience I had there yesterday…

One of my dogs (Buddy) really likes to play Frisbee so he stays close by me patiently awaiting a disc toss. It’s great because when he is concentrating, his mischief level goes down considerably. Daisy, the more mature dog at 11 years old, is obsessed with digging frantically at the gopher holes. She doesn’t go too far away and is always one little whistle away from a speedy return. While playing Frisbee with Buddy I heard a “yelp” from Daisy. This is pretty uncommon so I was immediately concerned. She stated walking towards me, then again she “yelped”. As she got close enough I could see a bee lodged right between her shoulder blades. I quickly removed it, but not before poor Daisy was stung. To make matters worse, this bee wasn’t alone, Buddy unfortunately was also stung. So there I am, swatting the air like Oscar De La Hoya in training. It was a feeble attempt to liberate myself from the bee infested moment and somehow I managed to escape without being stung. I’m sure I looked pretty ridiculous, but back to the dogs…

How many of you know what you would do if your pet was stung? Would you know what to look out for? Would you recognize the warning signs of a serious reaction? Can dogs be allergic to bees? Could my dog die? These are among the questions that immediately ran through my head. I removed the stinger and the dogs appeared to be fine after all, but Buddy did have some temporary inflammation at the sting site. Luckily, everyone was ok, but bee stings could be a serious problem for dogs, at least as serious as they are for humans if there is an allergic reaction. Anyway, if you would like to share any similar experiences like this we are all ears. If you would like some additional information, follow these links: Bees Stings & Dogs also try this one: Bee Stings & Dogs 2

Welcome to BarkSpot from Bark PDX, a blog dedicated to our pets and our lives and adventures with them. Here we will share ideas, information, news, links, fun stories, anecdotes and basically everything pet and animal related.

Tax Deductions for Pet Care!

We mentioned in an earlier post that having pets doesn’t only improve your happiness level, but could also help you to live longer. With so many Americans unable to afford adequate health care these days, anything that we can do to improve our well-being is justified. Tomi, one of Bark PDX’s clients, a terrific woman and fellow animal lover passed a link around that touches on the topic of tax deductions for pet care. In light of this cash for clunkers environment I can’t help but think that this is a fantastic idea. There are plenty of things for which one can seek tax deductions- just ask the corporations. Of all the tax deductions out there it is arguable that any are nearly as noble as tax deductions for pet care. Bark PDX has lost a few clients this year due to the difficult economic environment and we feel terrible that these animals who depend of human’s care have to suffer through no fault of their own. Please take a moment to review this site and contribute to the cause by voting “yes” on this petition, here’s the link: Tax Deductions for Pet Care

Welcome to BarkSpot from Bark PDX, a blog dedicated to our pets and our lives and adventures with them. Here we will share ideas, information, news, links, fun stories, anecdotes and basically everything pet and animal related.

Happy National Dog Day!

Did you all remember that today, August 26th, is National Dog Day?!? Well, depending in what time zone you’re in, you either still have some time to give your furry little pal a big hug and a kiss- or not so much. I had a difficult time trying to dig up the origin of this obscure but ever-growing-in-popularity dog holiday. My first thought was that it was yet another ploy of some large corporations trying to create a day to spend more of your hard earned money on relatively unnecessary dog gear and toys. But eventually I got to thinking of how people wait for certain holidays to acknowledge the ones they love. And if not for those holidays some of us may never be acknowledged at all.

Maybe National Dog Day is a chance to remind your doggie that you love them, especially since I’m sure they don’t wait for holidays to remind you. Maybe it’s a day to go out and adopt a dog that needs you or time to volunteer and that animal shelter. Whatever it is for you, make National Dog Day a great day for your Dog. And if you forgot or never knew about National Dog Day, I’m pretty sure your pup won’t mind if you celebrate it tomorrow.

Welcome to BarkSpot from Bark PDX, a blog dedicated to our pets and our lives and adventures with them. Here we will share ideas, information, news, links, fun stories, anecdotes and basically everything pet and animal related.

Lucky Oregon Pets

It was barely drizzling this morning after a light rain that lasted throughout the night. The sun eventually fought its way through the clouds and emerged victorious in its fight against them as those early afternoon clouds retreated. It turned out to be a beautiful day indeed and a great day for a walk with some of Portland’s luckiest dogs. Rainbows abound, I started thinking about how beautiful it is here and thinking of that saying “if there wasn’t rain, there wouldn’t be rainbows” (so true on so many levels). We are all fortunate here in Oregon for a number of reasons one of which is that if you drive in any direction, you’ll end up somewhere incredibly beautiful. We have mountains and streams, oceans and hills and a truly breathtaking natural landscape statewide. One of these beautiful places that I mentioning also doubles as the 2nd longest year-round waterfalls in the U.S. It’s called Multnomah Falls and it is located about a 1/2 hour east of Portland (depending on who is driving).

I know that not all of this blog’s readers are from Portland, but that shouldn’t mean that you can’t also appreciate some of Oregon’s beauty. Who knows, you might find yourself here one day looking for something nice to see that’s nearby the city. You can hike all the way to the top… or can you? Here’s the link to their website in case you were looking for any additional information: Multnomah Falls