Monthly Archives: April 2013

Is Your Pet Camera Shy?

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       Is your pet camera shy?  Does it not like you to hide your face when you use a camera to take a picture of it? Image I take a lot of pictures of the pets my company cares for.  I love to get pictures of sitters when they are dog walking or pet sitting and I’ll use the pictures to let the clients know everything is fine with their pets.  I also use it to post on social media or in a blog post. 

     I’ve noticed that many pets will turn their heads even when I call their name.  The Lab I used to have did not like it when I would put a camera up to my face.  It’s a little easier with a camera phone because it’s not as big and you have a much bigger viewfinder.  I asked Xalina Labarge, an animal behaviorist and co-owner of the Dog School 101 about how dogs react when you have a camera covering your face. Image  She told that dogs become uncomfortable when they can’t see your eyes or your facial expression.  “Dogs react more to facial language than body language,” said Xalina.  “When they see something blocking your face, they don’t know how to react. “  It works the same way with sunglasses. When I’m meeting a new client and their dog for the first time, I make sure I take my sunglasses off so it can see me.  I want it to see me smiling and happy to be with the dog and it can read my face.

    So what can you do to get your pet to “smile” for the camera?  “Put the camera (lens cap on so it won’t get slurped) or the phone on the ground and let the dog smell it and determine that it’s okay,” said Xalina.  “Then when you hold it the dog won’t be worried about it and will let you take the picture.”  I hope this helps you getting some better pictures of your pet!

    Fetch! Pet Care of NW Atlanta provides pet sitting, dog walking and cat care services for Roswell, East Cobb, Woodstock and Kennesaw, GA.  You can see the happy pets by following us on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/fetchnwatlanta/

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Pet First Aid Awareness Month

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    The American Red Cross has designated April as Pet First Aid Awareness Week.  Would you know what to do if your dog is injured on a walk, or you find your cat has eaten something it shouldn’t have and has gotten sick?  Most pet owners have our vet numbers in our phone, but what if your vet office is closed or you are out of town with your pet?  I became certified in Pet First Aid and CPR Imageshortly after I opened my Fetch! Pet Care franchise.   I’ve already written a blog post  about what you need in your pet first aid kit.  You should also know the emergency vet clinic closest to you.  In my territory there are 3 emergency vet locations, in Cobb County and Cherokee County as well as in Roswell.  Georgia Veterinary Specialists is in Sandy Springs off of Abernathy Rd.  Many in-home problems with pets have to do with poisoning, so you should also have a poisoning control number handy as well. 

     The American Red Cross offers pet first aid classes, although I couldn’t find any scheduled anytime soon in the Atlanta office. Image Pet tech is a company that also holds classes and you can find classes that are being offered on their website.  The classes are usually about 4 to 5 hours and the certification lasts for 2 years.  Most of my sitters have taken the class as well.  

    Another important item in being prepared to take care of your pets is to put Imagestickers on your doors to notify emergency workers how many pets are in the house.  The ASPCA will send you these stickers as well as a magnet with their poison control number on it. You can find where your pet’s secret hideout is by watching where it goes when you test your smoke alarms.  Each time you test it, check to make sure it’s going to the same place.  This is where you can go to rescue it if the need ever arises. Also you could tell emergency workers this in case of fire or something where you couldn’t get them yourselves. 

 Fetch! Pet Care of NW Atlanta provides pet sitting, dog walking and cat care services for Roswell, East Cobb, Woodstock and Kennesaw, GA.  You can see the happy pets by following us on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/fetchnwatlanta/