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| Going Greener Update |
New Places to Romp!!!! | |||||||||||||
It’s happening at last! On Saturday, May 30th, Bend Metro Park and Recreation District (BMPRD) is unveiling seven new off-leash dog parks. Demos, contests, presentations, and goodies for the pooches are among the various activities slated to take place at the Grand Opening ceremonies for each park, from 10am-2pm. So bring some friends, both furry and not so much, to one of these parks near you. Fully Fenced Sites 1. Big Sky - NE Bend in the Big Sky Sports Complex, on Neff Rd, past 27th street. 2. Riverbend Beach - 799 SW Columbia St. Off leash and river access. It will be fully fenced. 3. Ponderosa Community Park - 225 SE 15th St. 4 acre fenced off leash. Will include both turf and natural area. Located west of the ball field. 4. Pine Nursery - Yeoman Rd. NE Bend. 17.7 acre site within the Pine Nursery Community Park. Trail use and open recreation. Will be fully fenced. 5. Hollinshead Community Park - 1235 NE Jones Rd. This off-leash use area was changed based on public comment and to achieve congruency with the park’s master plan. Under this proposal off-leash use would be allowed on the same side of the park as is the garden. Fences will provide a barrier to the rental area and help define the rental use area. Due to this park’s unique characteristics, this off-leash area will be posted as a “trial area.” Should conflicting use and/or park degradation occur, off-leash use could be discontinued. 6. Overturf Butte Reservoir - between Skyliner Summit Loop and NW 17th St. in NW Bend. In an effort to accommodate both off-leash use and restricted use, a 4.1 acre off-leash area will be designated within the 30 acre site. Fences will be installed on three sides to barricade dogs from easily visiting neighboring homes. The fourth side, facing the interior of the property, will be marked by boundary markers. 7. Awbrey Reservoir - 10th and Trenton in NW Bend. Five acres of this 10+ acre site will be designed for off leash recreation. Fences and boundary markers will define the site. For more information, check out: www.bendparksandrec.org , www.dogpac.org |
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| Calling all Volunteers | ||||||||||||||
A big thank you goes out to Bend Park and Rec as well as DogPac, in their combined efforts to bring these new off-leash areas to Bend dogs. One of the best ways to show your appreciation is to volunteer with either of these organizations. For more information on volunteering, please see their websites (listed above). Or to volunteer with Bend Park and Rec, contact Kim Johnson at kim@bendparksandrec.org. |
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| Pet Expert Corner | ||||||||||||||
Fun Spring Ideas Spring Toys The rising temperatures and increasing sun of spring beckons us, and our dogs, to get outside and play. Here are some great toys to help you and pup achieve maximum springtime fun. The Chuck-it - This simple implement designed to make fetch easier and cleaner. The extended arm acts as a lever, allowing farther throws with less effort. The ball “pocket” allows you to pick up the ball without having to touch the often slobber-covered ball. Spindrift Frisbee- This flying floppy disc features a protruding rim, allowing easy pick up for your pooch. Plus, its made right here in Bend. Jolly Ball- Got a destructo-dog? Here’s the toy for you. This thick rubber ball is built to withstand the strongest chewers. Because of its bulky nature and the rambunctious playfulness it inspires, its best to keep the action outdoors. Spring Outings Did your pooch develop a winter pouch? The beautiful spring weather present the perfect opportunity to get out there and trim down that “winter coat”. Exercise is crucial, not only to your dog’s physical health, but to its mental health as well. Many behavior problems stem from boredom, excessive and unwarranted chewing is a prime example. Often, a 30-minute walk can alleviate many behavior problems. Here are some easy access exercise areas: 1) The River Trail - still off-leash from Meadow Camp to Benham Falls until May 15th. 2) Pilot Butte - take a walk up the Butte so you and your dog can share the beautiful view. 3) Big Sky Dog Park - release the hounds, well at least within the fenced in dog park. |
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| Keep your dog from Jumping - Meredith Gage, owner, Pawsitive Experience Dogs jump to get attention, out of excitement, to seek status, or because they just enjoy it. We reinforce it because it was not invasive when our dogs were puppies and they got away with it for a long time until they got big and it became annoying. The longer the behavior goes on, the harder it is to extinguish. Jumping on you or a family usually happens when you first return home. The best way to address this (and the hardest thing for us to do) is to just ignore it. We are just as excited to see our canine friends as they are to see us, so we often get our dogs overly excited. When you arrive home, try to keep your hellos calm and low key. For the most boisterous dogs, completely ignore them for 5 or 10 minutes. When they are calm enough to greet you calmly, then it is time to say hi. We are making the greetings uneventful and no big deal. Keep in mind, negative attention IS attention. By pushing our dogs down, kneeing them, and yelling at them, they are getting attention. This is why ignoring is more effective. Also, eye contact is attention. So pretend your dog is invisible, pretend there is no dog in the house until he is calm. If you do this consistently your dog will be calm right when you get home, and you will not have to wait out those 5-10 minutes anymore. Another thing you can do is to take his space. Depending on his size, move into him with your hip or leg (the bigger dog the hip, the smaller dogs the leg). When he backs away, tell him to sit. As you are doing this, do not knee him as this can cause injury. This is effective for some dogs but not all. Another method that works well is to simply turn around 180 degrees. One reason this is effective is it avoids you having to make eye contact. This can be an effective technique for children to use when teaching their dogs not to jump. I often tell children to face a wall until their dog stops jumping. The child can’t look or interact with the dog and look at the wall at the same time. I’ll even have the child count or sing a song until the dog stops jumping. For more on this, and other training topics, visit www.pawsitiveexperience.com |
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| Upcoming Events | ||||||||||||||
3/22/09 - Crate Training - Stephanie Morris from Desert Sage’s Canine Care |
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| Community Involvement | ||||||||||||||
Bend Pet Express prides itself on being a local/independent company. We feel part of being local is helping the community which helps support us. Last year, with the help of your generous contributions, we were able to raise and donate over $10,000 to local charities. Here are some of the bigger contributions we were able to make, with your help: Humane Society of Redmond |
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