New Website!

Were Proud to annouce that our new website is up and running, please visit us at
www.dakotasplayground.com for all our new updates! Thanks!

Dakota Visits Abingdon Place!

Dakota and I along with the Gaston Humane Society visited Abingdon Place Senior Living center on Tuesday, Sept 9th. We had a wonderful time greeting and getting to know some of the residents as well as the friendly staff at Abingdon Place. Many thanks goes out to the Humane Society and Katrina Wolford at Abingdon Place for setting up this Pet Therapy Session! We look forward to visiting again soon!

All the photos from that day will be posted soon. If you'd like find out more information about how Dakota can visit your location, please contact the Gaston Humane Society.

Dakota Works to Socialize a Younger Dog

Check out this video of Dakota working with a younger dog to socialize it and teach it how to play and interact with other dogs! YAY Dakota!

Dakota to Become a Therapy Dog!

Dakota may be coming to a nursing home near you! We're excited to announce that Dakota will be meeting up with the Humane Society of Gaston County to do some volunteer work as a Therapy Dog. Just another way Dakota's Behavioral Playground is helping you and you're Dog Smile! More details to come in the near future.

Maggie Thomas!

Say hello to Maggie Thomas! Maggie is a two year old Boxer Mix. Her Humans (Robert and Katie) recently installed an underground fence for Maggie. Unfortunately after receiving her first zap from the new collar, Maggie became so spooked that she ran back to the garage and wouldn't come back into the yard on her own to play or relax. After spending the evening with Maggie I'm happy to report that she had made a 180 Degree turn around and was exploring her backyard on her own and running through the yard playing with her toys! Way to go Maggie! I'm confident that if Robert and Katie stick to the training suggestions I gave them for Maggie that she will continue to gain confidence and learn to enjoy her entire yard! Keep up the hard work guys, it will pay off! Maggie and I had a blast and Robert and Katie were excellent host! Thanks for the opportunity to work with Maggie! I look forward to seeing her again soon!

Jethro!

Last week I was asked to assist in taking Jethro an 8 year beagle mix to the vet for his shots. Jethro has a tendency to be aggressive towards some men and a very timid and shy at the vet, making the trip difficult for his Human, Erika Monaco. I'm happy to report that Jethro did EXCELLENT! He was very well behaved and sweet to everyone he encountered that afternoon, and had no complaints about taking his medicine (Rabies Booster). So a big thank you goes out to Erika and Jethro for inviting us out to help and look forward to seeing Jethro again sometime! GOODBOY JETHRO!

Why does my dog drag his butt across my CLEAN carpet?!

Scooting is when animals drag their bum on the ground or floor. It is usually a behaviour associated with dogs but sometimes cats do it as well. Dogs and cats have two little glands around their anus that produce a foul smelling fluid that gets deposited on feces when the animal has a bowel movement. It’s like their calling card and is involved in marking their territory. Every dog or cat has his own smell. That’s why animals smell each other’s butts and feces. They are just reading the other animal’s calling card. Sometimes, these glands aren’t being expressed and they become very full. The animal feels discomfort because of it and they drag their bum to try to relieve the pressure and pain caused by these full anal sacs. We don’t see cats dragging their bum as often because they try to solve the problem by licking. If your cat licks his bum a lot, more than what would be needed for normal grooming purposes, he may be experiencing problems with his anal glands. Sometimes cats will lick themselves bald around their anus when they are very irritated by the problem. Dogs will lick or bite at those sacs too but scooting is a more common manifestation of the problem for them. When you take your dog to be groomed normaly the groomer will drain the anal sacs for you. The problem is this pressure is supposed to be relieved naturaly when the dog ellimantes, when the sacs are drained by us, the glands become lazy and release on their own less and less. So the more you have them drained the more they will fill up, its a catch 22 basically that just has to be done. The vet can drain the sacs as well and if you ask them will probably be glad to show you how to drain them yourself and then when you notice the dog dragging his rear, you know its time to drain those sacs!