My age is showing, I have stumbled across items and services for dogs that I never knew were needed. Obviously, they are needed since these items and services exist.
This post came about as I did research on my post Dogs and Swimming. It’s when I stumbled across the K9 Aquatic Center. But this isn’t the only service I discovered for dogs that took me by surprise.
Please note, this post is supposed to be in fun humor. I’m not picking on anyone who uses a few of these items and services for dogs. However, I will say, if you are paying for services like these along with paying to have your dog groomed and walked, you might want to reconsider if you really needed the dog.
Services for Dogs You Never knew Existed
When I took Pandora to the vet, I mentioned that Pandora is still reluctant to walk near vehicles. The vet recommended Behavioral Therapy. That seemed a bit drastic since Pandora is pretty good with everything else, but I looked into the place that was recommended.
What I really mean, is that I opened the website, saw the $445 fee for a one-hour consultation, and promptly decided it was okay if Pandora never walked near the road.
Personally, if my dog was aggressively trying to kill everyone and everything, I would consider Behavioral Therapy. Because the alternative would probably be a drastically, upsetting option. But for something that doesn’t affect our life, that much. I can deal with driving out to trails and spending more time with Pandora in training.
Dog Exercise Coach
You can actually hire someone to come up with exercise plans for your dog. I’m a bit baffled on this one, but I’m sure there are reasons for its usefulness.
Dog Tv
Another service for dogs, you can pay for a subscription to DogTV. Now, I’m not fully knocking this service. I have put on videos of people herding cows and Pandora gets intensely interested. Now, I don’t pay for the service, I just find YouTube videos and run those. I have also put garbage trucks (yes, there are videos of garbage trucks doing their thing for hours at a time) on the TV in stereo as a means to desensitize Pandora to load vehicles.
Yard Cleaners
You can hire someone to pick up your dog’s doo from your yard. Personally, I’m too cheap to pay someone for five-minutes of work, but if you can’t handle the doggy doo, then you do you.
I can see how this service would benefit people who may have had surgery or may have mobility issues.
Rent Yard Time
This is something I saw crop up on a local FB group. You can rent a person’s yard for your dog to run in. This isn’t a terrible idea. However, it could be an expensive one. Read up on what the people request. Some require the dog to stay on leash, which kind of defeats the purpose of letting your dog run. If you live in an urban area and it’s hard to find a calm place to let your dog run wild and burn off energy, this could be for you.
Items for Dogs You Never Knew Existed
I see so many items for dogs that we never saw thirty years ago. Maybe it’s because we didn’t have such a robust internet then. I don’t know, but now there are dog goggles, dog rear-end covers for those who don’t want to pick up the poop the bag hangs from the dog’s butt. And then the dog does his business right into the bag.
A few items for dogs that you can buy:
Beer
I bet you didn’t see that coming. There are places that brew a beer specifically for dogs. One such place is Bowser Beer. And no, there is no alcohol in the beer.
Grass
As in an artificial grass mat. There are many options. I guess if your dog won’t potty unless there’s a patch of grass, this could solve the problem.
The item for dogs that I have no words for:
There is a gadget called Puppy Tweets. You connect a USB into your computer and put a doodad on the dog’s collar. Each time your dog barks, moves, or even naps, the fob sends a tweet to Twitter. Apparently, it has a few hundred phrases to tweet. Which is good, because if you have an active dog, it will never stop tweeting. Ever. Ever.
