Chill Out With Your Dog This Summer

Everyone loves popsicles in the summertime – even dogs! When the mercury rises, you can mix up your dog’s dietary routine from the usual Kibbles and Bits coupons with this “pupsicle” recipes. They’re pet safe, super refreshing, and easy to make with ingredients you have on hand. Bon appétit!

Basic recipe:

         1 banana, ripe

         4 cups natural orange juice

         ½ cup plain yogurt

Puree all the ingredients in a blender and pour into ta popsicle mold. Freeze & feed to your favorite pet! You can mix it up by substituting peaches, watermelons, blueberries or strawberries for the banana.

Savory popsicles:

         If you had chicken for dinner, your dog can enjoy it for dessert! Let the leftover chicken carcass simmer in a pot of hot water for an hour and a half. Cool, pick the meat off, and discard the bone. Combine chicken broth, mashed up carrots/peas/corn or other leftover veggies, pour into popsicle mold, and freeze. These can be a bit messy and are best served outside.

Lazy pet owner’s recipe:

         Cube some watermelon, put it in a plastic baggie, and put it in the freezer. This cool all natural treat is the easiest way to let your dog enjoy a sweet taste of summer!

        

If you don’t have a popsicle mold, you can freeze your pupsicles in a small Tupperware container or empty single-serve yogurt containers. Remember that these pupsicles can’t substitute for the well-rounded meal Kibbles and Bits coupons provide, so feed them to your dog only as a special treat. 

Dogs Can Speak Sign Language!

In Lassie, it only takes a “woof! woof!” for the sheriff to know that poor little Timmy is stuck in a well. But can you imagine how cool it would be if your dog could actually talk to you? He might say, “Have you used those Kibbles n Bits coupons yet?” or “those shoes look delicious – I’m going to eat them while you’re out.” That may be a little far-fetched (ha, ha) but Sean Senechal says that dogs can learn to “talk” to their masters via dog sign language.

She calls her system the K9Sign system, and she uses careful training to teach dogs to communicate. Basic K9Sign training can enable dogs to communicate general concepts, like food and walk; more advanced training can teach dogs to sign specifics – like a desired toy, perhaps ball or Frisbee. Using K9Sign, you can even teach your dog to recognize friends and family, so that if you ask him “Who’s there?” he can communicate with a specific gesture to answer “Aunt Molly” or “a stranger.” Dogs can’t talk, of course, but they can learn to connect specific gestures to finite concepts – say, touching his nose with his left paw to indicate hunger. The dog below is signing a response to the question "Who's that?" 

Senechal says her method is a fun, challenging and rewarding experience that strengthens the bond between owner and pet while expanding our ideas about interspecies communication. Senechal’s method is based on conditioning, positive reinforcement, molding, modeling, and imitation – the same methods used to teach Koko the gorilla to sign. This method does requires a greater investment of time and patience than teaching your dog basic skills like sit and stay, but if he already has those commands down, you’ve got a solid foundation to build from. Check out this article on K9Sign for instructions on how to begin K9Sign training, and Sean’s site AnimalSign.org, for information on her program. With dedicated training, you might be able to ask your dog what you should pick up at the store and he’ll answer “Use those Kibbles n Bits coupons!”