Lost Dog?

The other day Mrs. Big Nate and I were sitting at our local Extreme Pita enjoying a Grilled Chicken Pita with Diet Pepsi. Gee...I wish I got paid for these advertisements!

On the announcement board there was a posting with a picture of the cutest puppy. The title of the poster was "Lost Dog". We both gave a little "awww" and immediately started to feel sorry for the poor owners who had lost this little puppy and they probably haven't even owned the dog for very long.

As we read on to get more details, we saw that the dog was not actually lost but was stolen. I can't remember the exact wording but it was something like "taken from outside the 7-11 in Shawnessey". We both looked at each other and started to get angry.

First of all, the dog isn't lost, it was snatched. Furthermore, it was stolen from outside the 7-11! The owners actually brought this puppy with them to the store and left it tied up outside while they went in for Slurpees and a chocloate bar? Nothing make us more angry than seeing a poor dog tied up outside a store. In almost every occasion where we have witnessed this, the poor mutt always appears stressed out and scared.

Think about it, the dog is tied up so it can't escape from this strange place, it's left alone to fend for itself and has no idea why or for how long. There are always tons of peole coming and going. If it is a gas station 7-11, there are cars and trucks rumbling by at very close range.

Strange people and children feel drawn the poor dog and want to go up to it and pet it. The dog is stressed and may not react normally to people and kids approaching it. Now the owner can face trouble that comes along with a dog biting someone on top of it all!

So now I don't feel sorry for the owner who "lost" his dog, I feel mad that they would do this with a puppy no less! Now I feel like they deserved to lose their dog and hope that the person who took him thinks the same and now the dog is in a better home than where it came from.

These are the initial thoughts and feelings we had at the moment but really we do not wish this on anyone. The owners abviously care about the pooch as they took the time to do up flyers and distribute them around the neighbourhood and local businesses.

Let this be a lesson people! Don't bring your dog to the store and leave them tied up and alone while you go in to get your smokes and bon bons!

Oh The Humanity!

The humanity of it all!

This snow is driving us crazy!

I'm sure your pets aren't much up for these days either. Mrs. Big Nate and I have had some pretty easy days as of late. Mojo and Oscar just don't seem to want to go for walks much lately. Hmmm...I wonder why? Could it be, oh I don't know...SATAN? (Just a little reference to Saturday Night Live's the Church Lady, but I digress).

Anyway, the snow and cold weather is here in full force and making a mess our city streets. This makes it quite difficult for us to get around, even in mid-day! So every once in a while if we are having a particularly hard time of it, we may either miss your service due to the roads being so bad or to the volume of snow that falls. That especially, makes it hard for us to do a proper job of removing that waste from your yard.


Have no fear, you are not being charged for the missed day and we will resume service the very next week or as soon appropriately possible.

We certainly apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and your poooches!

We hope everyone is having wonderful time so far this holiday season. Mrs. Nate and I hope to get some skating in at our community rink. The area is so pretty now with all the Christmas lights up.


Please don't hesitate to contact us any time if you have any questions regarding our winter and cold weather service poilcy.

What's the Deal?

Some of you may be asking, what's the deal? Where have you been? No new blog posts as of late! Well I have been quite busy over the fall season. Not just with Poooh Busters but with Canine Correction, and a few personal projects. Not to mention, losing weight (planned meals and a fitness regime), rescuing a dog and a cat, my Mom's passing and on and on...

I am happy to report that Poooh Busters has in all this, had a stellar year so far. So much has happened in 2009 it's hard to know where to begin. How about a point form list? Apparently, lists are a part of my personality profile.

January 2009

• The team started off the year with very bad weather and lots of snow.
• We handed out our new complimentary 2009 calendar to our loyal customers.

March 2009

• I decide to step forward and become a larger presence on the Poooh Busters Team.
• The Team geared up for the annual Calgary Pet Expo.

April 2009

• We worked hard at the 2009 Calgary Pet Expo and announced the winner of our pet expo draw for a free year of pet waste removal service.
• The field team, Roland and Erin, struggled through more bad weather and snow dumps but provided service with a smile when they could.
• I decided to create a blog for the company in order to increase my online presence and as an attempt to keep our customers up-to-date on the happenings of the team.
• Mrs. Big Nate and I decide to adopt a rescue dog named Oscar from a crappy and now defunct resue society. Dog good, whole experience, BAD!

May 2009

• Me and the Mrs. attend the Humane Society's Annual Dog Jog. We raised over $600 on behalf of the team!

June 2009

• I decide to increase the Poooh Busters newsletter from one page to two pages.
• The team gets a call from the Federal Government stating that we must now start collecting GST...booo, hisss!
• I decide now is the time to get in the online game and create a Twitter account and a Facebook group.
• Our family loses our beloved cat, Monster. We still miss her dearly.

August 2009

• Poooh Busters launches their first month of collecting GST and becomes a truly recognized, small business.
• Roland asks me to start looking into how we can provide enhancements to our website allowing clients to pay online.
• My wife and I adopt a little kitten from the Humane Society. Chloe is a handful and we love having her in our family. Well everyone except Mojo.

September 2009

• We launch our first crack at online payments through Paypal.ca. It was a bit of a learning curve at first but we found it to be very beneficial to our customers.
• Poooh Busters and Canine Correction strike a deal and aquire Pet Ala Mode. This company provides personal dog walking and professional dog sitting services. All business is handled through our company but Caroline provides the service. Welcome aboard Caroline and Cam. Here we GROW again!

October 2009

• I worked very hard to set up online payments with a company called BeanStream.com. We were aboe to integrate our site into their payment system so payments are now seamless. No more Paypal in your face! And with that we were also able to implement Interac Online. The only drawback is that it is still very new and not all banks are online with it yet. Currently only BMO, TD, RBC and Scotia participate. If you bank with another company like CIBC or ATB, you're stuck using Visa or Mastercard.

November 2009

• The field team buy a new house and move head office to SE Calgary! Roland and Erin are very excited to have purchased a home together and are moving there as I write these words. Congratulations!

Well it has been a very exciting and eventful year so far. Still another 6 weeks to go. We are already planning for the 2010 Pet Expo and we are getting close to producing our complimentary calendars. The calendars feature the Poooper of the Month for each month in 2009. We love this little project and hope everyone finds the calendar fun and useful.

I'm going to try and keep up on my blogs and updates more frequently. So till next time, take care!

No excuse not to spay and neuter your pets!

Alright I have to get on my soapbox today. It was brought to my attention that an incident occurred recently where there are two small dogs living together in the same household. One attacked the other and cause severe damage and injury to the other one. Guess why? At least guess why the onwers though it happened.

They blame it on the fact the attaking dog is a bitch in heat. Something triggered the attack but the root cause is because the bitch is not her normal, tolerant self while in heat. The vicitm dog is fine and recovering nicely but at what cost to his or her mental stability towards the other dog, not to mention to the owners who had pay a hefty sum to their vet to repair the damage and provide mediciations?

What's the lesson here people? Spay and neuter your animals immediately upon receiving them or as soon as safely possible depending on their young age. This incident just another reason to get this responsible act done!

Let's see what other reasons could there possibly be?

1. Health risks with pregnancy and birthing

• try watching a birthing video first and see if you still want to go down this road
• the mother may need a cesarean section

2. Even one litter sounds like a good idea until considering what adding 12 new puppies to your family really means

• you and you alone are responsible for the entire litter
• can you guarantee quality home for all the puppies/kittens?
• if not are you prepared to own more than one dog/cat afterwards?

3. The cost of the extra veterinary care

• check ups, shots, and deworming-for 12 dogs
• the puppies may need substantial veterinary care

4. The state of current dog and cat overpopulation epidemic

• one female dog and her offspring can produce more than 4,000 offspring in only 7 years.
• for cats, that number is more like 400,000
• only one puppy or kitten of every nine born will find homes, the rest will likely be euthanized

5. Offers several key health benefits for the animal

• spaying your pet before her first estrous cycle, or "heat," greatly reduces her chances of developing breast cancer and eliminates the risk of uterine and ovarian cancers
• neutering your male can increase your dog's longetivity; why did Spot cross the road? He loved the ladies on the other side.
• 80 percent of dogs hit by vehicles every year are unneutered males
• testicular cancer and prostate problems commonly afflict unneutered male dogs
• neutered males are far less aggressive because they are less territorial (apparently so are female dogs)

There are really not many excuses to not spay your pet. Any shelter and most reputable breeders will require that you agree to have the dog spayed or neutered. Even if your have an older adult dog or cat, it is never too late to spay or neuter. The health benefits decrease the longer you wait, but a little benefit is better than none at all.

So to those who say "it's not natural" or "I want to breed my dog ", I say grab a brain, get realistic and be a responsible pet owner...NOW!

Pardon my venting but I'm quite passionate about this subject and the recent news of this attack has really made me feel the need to get this message out to anyone who will read it.

Taking Online Payments Sooner Than We Thought!

Things moved a bit faster than I expected! I was able to create a payments page on the Poooh Busters website and add a few links to get to it throughout the site.



So if you are a customer of Poooh Busters and wish to make a payment using your credit card, please be sure to visit our Payment Page and start using our very convenient online, credit card processing.



As I stated before, we are using Paypal to process our payments for us so it is very secure and we never see your credit card number or personal information. Just please be aware that when going to our customized payment site on Paypal, it may appear as if you need a Paypal account to continue but you don't. Just click the "Continue" link beside the credit card symbols. See example.



Poooh Busters wants to thank all it's loyal clients for the conitnued support and patronage!

Taking Online Payments Soon!

Well Poooh Busters is moving into another new era of online technology. We are going to start using the Paypal online payment service to process payment transactions!

We are doing this for a couple of different reasons but the main one is for the convenience of our customers. It's always easy to get on our computers and fire off a payment while you're thinking about it. It's fast, convenient and immediate!

Right now when payments are due, our loyal clients are asked to do crazy things like leave a cheque (or even cash if they prefer) in the backyard somewhere, the BBQ, the mailbox, etc. This is not really a safe thing to do. The envelopes get lost, stolen, blown away, rained or snowed on, or chewed up by the dog (yes that has really happened). Not to mention, our customers have to try and remember to leave the envelope out on pickup day. That can be a difficult thing to do given our very busy lives and schedules. And you have to dig up an envelope in the first place. I know I don't always have one lying around when I need one!

So Roland and Erin at Poooh Busters asked ole' Nate to come up with a way for our customers to easily make their payments without the risk involved with leaving cheques or cash stashed away in the yard somewhere. I looked into a few options and Paypal seemed like a good idea for present moment and situation. Poooh Busters is still not big enough to get into accepting credit cards just yet. There all kinds of hoops to jump through as a business to get to that point as well as the fees involved when processing transactions. Also our business account at the bank does not allow for personal email money transfers, so that option is out too.

Paypal.ca allows us to process credit card transactions immediately without any hassle. As we move forward, we will also be able to accept interac online but we're just taking this first step for credit cards until we get our feet wet and test the waters.

Well there you have it! Our latest news is exciting and we can't wait to give it a try. Once everything is finalized and I get a new payment page added to our website, we'll announce it here, on our news page and in our monthly newsletter. Probably throw it up on Twitter and Facebook just to be safe.

How far would you go for your dog?

We all love our dogs. Usually that means putting up with any problems they may have either physically or mentally. For every dog their is a "thing" that we as owners must work at managing. Some bark, or get into the garbage, or runaway, some jump up and are so energetic they are hard to control. Some dogs tear up furniture, walls and floors, or dig up the yard. Some even have serious aggression issues with their food, towards people and other dogs. Some aggression issues have been so intense that they have even killed other dogs.

In my house, our dog Oscar, pees in the house. He's not marking, he just doesn't think to ask to go outside when he gets the urge to relieve himself. He'll happily go outside but only when told to. So we manage this by crating him at night and during the day when we are at work. If we go out for an hour or two, we just make sure we let him out and 9 out of 10 times the house is still pee-free when we get home. It's just something we have to deal with. He came to us this way and we must take the bad with the good. There may be some training we could do I'm sure, but it's impossible to catch him in the act. He's very stealthy when it comes down to it!

My point is, I am impressed with how far some people will go when dealing with their dog's problems. My dog's problems are nothing compared to someone with a dog who gets out of the yard, happens upon another dog walking with their owner and a confrontation ensues where the poor innocent dog on his happy walk gets killed. Can you imagine? I love walking my dogs every day but I don't know what I would do if this happened to me.

Let's look at it from the other side. Here is an owner that has a dog with serious aggression problems. They love this dog. He is a gentle, loving animal that played as a puppy, grew up in front of his owners eyes and is as loyal to them as the day is long. This dog has toys and loves to run and jump and play. But for some reason, when he is around other dogs, the owners have to watch their loving dog turn into an uncontrollable monster they don't recognize. So what do they do? They try their best to manage their dog's behaviour, they love their dog and they aren't going to just throw him out like so much garbage because he has issues. They fight for him.

As many of you know, the owner and operator of Poooh Busters is Roland Pearson. Well you may or may not know that he also is an expert dog trainer who runs a company called Canine Correction. I invite to visit his site and you'll see what a wonderful service he provides to people who face the kind of situation as I just described. He helps people who on their last hope at saving their beloved dog's life. Those dogs that seem hopeless, especially after having just killed another dog.

I want to share with you a story of one of Roland's recent training clients. The folks that contacted him were at their wit's end. Their dog had so many issues they were having a hard time managing everything. This dog cam with many challenges:

• barked at the doorbell,
• would run away when it time to clip his nails,
• would jump at and eat any food that even came near the floor,
• would nervously growl and bark whenever strange noise would occur around the house,
• wouldn't stay to save his life,
• leads and pulls his leash when on a walk,
• excitedly jumps on visitors the come to the home,
• would shake and quiver when his owner would chew gum
• and eventually got out, happened across a small dog and inadvertantly killed it

It was very quick and happened in a blink of an eye, a simple grab and shake. I'm sorry to paint such a gruesome picture but I want to make the simple point that every dog has a fighting chance to become a good, respectful and well-behaved dog if we fight for them and give them the chance.

The owner called Roland following the incident, after he found the Canine Correction website and knew Roland could help. He generally wanted to save his dog's life knowing that his dog is not the monster that comes out in him around other dogs. Roland agreed to help him and they together have been working with the dog since mid-July. It has been only two weeks of Roland providing the owner with the know-how and tools to train his dog and recognize him as a pack animal that needs leadership. Now this dog is almost a completely different animal.

As part of the training program, Canine Correction asks the owners to take time and write an email every now and then to update them on their progress. This particular owner writes, "Just wanted to give you an update as to my progress with our homework training. There has been significant changes around the house with less tension, fear, and worrisome which I used to feel. We trained for a couple hours yesterday and a few hours today. Well, today I had the leash on him and later I took it off but he was still following me around the house and sitting next to me and just starring at me like he is waiting for me to tell him what his next move should be. He hasn't barked when the door bell rings, or goes crazy when I chew gum." The client goes on to say, "I've had friends come over and they tell me he is a different dog."

So let's give this tragic story the attention it deserves. An owner who saw potential in his "last chance" dog and didn't give up on him. Instead of giving up, he got Roland's help and in return saved his dog's life.

Big Nate ain't so big no more!

Well what can I say? It's been a long road but we're getting there!

Mrs. Big Nate and I decided one year ago this month that it was time to do something about our health...well, our weight to be more specific. More about this in a minute but you might wonder why do I call myself "Big Nate"?

I got the nickname Big Nate from my friend and yours, Roland. He and a few of our co-workers at the time gave me the now infamous nickname, Big Nate when I was tipping the scales around 260 lbs. The name comes from the NFL football player, Nate Newton. I don't follow NFL but apparently this guy is huge. Well, see for yourself, here he is in all his glory! I guess he also is famous for being busted a couple times for possession of large amounts of marijuana. I'm talking like 175 to 213 lbs worth. Looks like Nate Newton does everything big! But just to get the record straight, I got the nickname due to my size and not because of any type of involvement with narcotics.

Anyway, the nickname stuck and I have taken advantage of using it for my alias as writer of this blog, the Poooh Busters newsletter and as webmaster of the Poooh Busters and Canine Correction websites.

But the point of today's blog is to say that I had allowed myself to creep even further up the scales where I reached 284 lbs. I dread to think about where I would have been if my wife and I had not brought Mojo home 4 years ago. We were dedicated in walking him almost every day and I hate to think how much more I would have weighed if we had not been walking the 30 to 60 minutes every night. So for those of us who have dogs, be sure to use them to help you increase your activity levels and healthy lifestyle. They don't mind...really they don't. If fact they need it as much as we do, if not more.

As I mentioned earlier, my wife and I decided to take some serious action towards our goal to lose weight. Mojo was helping to keep us from getting completely out of hand but we needed even more to get us to our goal. We signed up for a boot camp last July and it was the best thing we ever did! It started us on the road to a healthy, active lifestyle that we are still following today. The pic of us here on the right was taken in Mexico a couple a years ago. We were well on our way to becoming the heaviest both us has ever been in our lives! I was wearing XXXL shirts and size 48 to 50 pants. I couldn't do a flight of stairs without getting winded and I pretty much refused to run for my bus. Screw it, I'll catch the next one! Mrs. Nate was into size 22 and was purchasing 3X clothing from stores like Additionelle and Pennington's.

I won't kid you, boot camp was the hardest and most physically challenging thing I ever attempted. The first day we were told to run a kilometre and time how long it takes. Right! A 284 lb, 41 year old man who has never run for anything is now going to attempt a one kilometre run as part of a fitness test. It was the longest 7 minutes, 31 seconds of my life. Well after six weeks at three nights a week, I had lost almost 30 lbs and completed my one kilometre run in five minutes, 50 seconds! After that, we joined the Running Room's Learn-to-Run clinic, where we learned to run properly and at the end of that six weeks, ran a 5 km race. I finished the five k's in just under 39 minutes. After that, we started to sign up for cardio classes, body sculpting classes, step classes, and even dusted off our bikes to go for hour long bike rides. We started eating better and eating less. It just got easier and easier the longer we kept it up.

Of course during this whole time, we were doing our nightly walks with both Mojo and Oscar to add to all the other activities we were doing. So to keep this long story from getting longer, so far we have both lost approx. 70 lbs each. It has taken a year to get here but we made it without having any heart attacks or sustaining any major injuries. We still have a ways to go yet, I would like to lose another 45 lbs to get to the doctor recommended weight of 165 lbs for my height and age. Mrs. Nate has about 30 lbs to go. But we'll get there as we have given in to the process and plan to keep our healthy lifestyle well into our senior years!

It can be done if you really want it bad enough. And your dogs will love you for it! Not to mention your loved ones will be happier knowing you might live just a little bit longer.

Dealing With A Death

I think the worst part of owning a pet is the inevitable passing of our fur-friend. Nothing can be done to stop it, it's just a fact of life and something that we all have to go through.

Mrs. Big Nate and I just recently lost our cat, Monster. She was my wife's first pet and it was devastating to her and to me. Monster was a curious and slightly eccentric cat, she was extremely

playful even at her very mature age of 12 years. Her loss was great to us and I'm feeling pangs of hurt as I write these words.

Monster started to show signs of not being herself for a few days. She was still eating and using her litter box but we noticed she was drinking excessivley and wasn't her usual, playful self. She wasn't sleeping in her usual spots and seemed very lethargic. We decided to take her to the vet where they instantly told us that she was extremely sick and directed us to take her to the emergency facility. The "doctor" at our usual office was disturbingly harsh saying that we were neglectful and irresponsible for not bringing her in sooner. This upset my wife immensely! I could get into this more but I won't. Needless to say we are not longer patients of this vet clinic! Anyway, she took Monster to the emergency hospital where we were told that Monster had contracted Chronic Renal Insufficeincy. Check it out here: http://www.felinecrf.com/

The last thing we expected was to leave her there for treatment. Then to make the decision the very next

day to let her go as she wasn't responding to the treatments. It's the worst feeling in the world to tell the vet to euthanize your very best friend. My wife was strong and we decided to be there for it. She held Monster while she passed peacefully without any further pain or discomfort. We stayed in the little room holding her and cried.

But what about those of us who have extreme difficulty dealing with the loss of our beloved dog, cat, bird, reptile, fish, rodent or what have you? Some pet lovers have a much harder time dealing with the loss that others. After all, many of us look at our pets as members of the family, as kids. We hold their lives and well-being in our hands and they rely completely on us for love, care and attention. They in return give us unconditional love and loyalty.

I did some research and found something I'm sure most people could find with a few choice search words in Google. It's a great site and has many helpful ideas to help those of us who have trouble getting over the unexpected loss of our fur-kids. I wanted to share it: http://www.pet-loss.net/index.html

Be sure to check out the 10 tips to coping with loss portion of the website. They have some great ideas for memorial products. Things like this may make things a little easier to deal with.

As for Monster, we are glad to have had her as long as we did. She brought much joy to our lives. We will miss her dearly and she will be forever in our hearts.

Last Chance Father's Day!

Only one week left!

If you're stuck and don't know what to get Dad on his day, give him the luxury of a clean yard without having do the dirty work!

A nice 12 week package should do it...

Order your gift certificate today!

Poor Oscar

I've already elaborated on our story of adopting our new addition, Oscar in the June edition of the Poooh Busters newsletter.

http://www.pooohbusters.com/Newsletters/2009-06%20Newsletter.pdf

I hate to dwell on one subject with so many things to talk about but I really need to talk about this.

On Friday my wife was taking Mojo and Oscar for their daily walk and noticed that Oscar just wasn't as excited to head out the door as he usually is. For the first part of the walk he is always full of energy and pulling to walk faster. This day he was lagging behind right from the start. About two minutes in, he promptly laid down on the sidewalk and did not want to move. Mrs. Big Nate picked him up to make sure he wasn't injured or tangled in the leash. All appeared fine and she was able to coax him into continuing. A few steps later he laid down again, refusing this time to get up. Now she knows something is not right and decides to take him to the vet hospital immediately.

After about two hours with the vet, an x-ray and $170, we found that Oscar has developed sever arthritis in his right hip. This, the vet speculated, is resulting from an injury he sustained earlier in life that was never dealt with properly or at all. The bone that connects into his pelvis (similar to a human femur bone) is two times larger than normal. There is extreme swelling and it does not connect to the socket correctly. This causes Oscar to experience anywhere from discomfort to pain depending on how much he uses it.

The X-ray shows the difference between the normal left side and the enlarged right side.

Oscar's X-Ray

Now this would have never come to our attention if we didn't walk Oscar as much as we do. We always wondered why he slowed down so much near the end of our daily walks. We thought he was out of shape or too over-weight but really it was because his hip started to bother him more and more the longer we walked. Poor little guy!

He is going to require surgery where they will shave the enlarged bone down so it will fit correctly into the socket once again. After some recovery time he should be good as new again. Until then, the vet tells us we can't walk him anymore, he must not use his hip more than required. It is really weird for us to NOT walk our dog and it's really unfair to him. He has gotten used to his routine and looks forward to taking his daily walk with Mojo. Anyway, my wife will be taking him in to see our usual vet this morning to see if he can give us an idea of the cost involved and when we can get this done. I'll keep you up to date.

I really have to wonder what life was like for Oscar before he was surrendered to the Furever After Rescue Society. I really have to assume that he was neglected and was very low on the family's priority list. Well they surrendered him, I guess that says it all! Did he injure himself at one point and they did not get him any kind of care or treatment? And I also wonder about the rescue society's practice of doing full checks on their rescues before allowing them out for adoption. To what extent do they go in their initial examinations?

We love Oscar and will do anything for him but I feel a little like we bought a used car and found that it needs a new transmission. I'm not talking an oil change here, this is a very serious and expensive thing!

His situation is a little different than the usual when it comes to how he ended up at Furever After. They normally rescue dogs from high kill shelters, Oscar was surrendered to the foster mom directly as she knew these people who owned him in the first place. So I have to assume that this may have added to the Rescue's oversight.

Anyway, the question is, should rescue societies do a full and extensive exam on their rescues before releasing them? I'm talking all out x-rays, blood work, everything! Or is it just too expensive and unrealistic to expect that much pre-screening?

God knows I had to prove myself worthy before they would even look at me as a qualified pet adopter, should I have not gotten the same consideration from their side?

Great Movie!

The other weekend Mrs. Big Nate and I took some time for ouselves and actually sat down long enough to relax and enjoy a movie. This was much needed as we are both very busy and active. We used the Shaw Video on Demand feature. We haven't stepped inside a video store in so long, we've forgotten what it's like to rent a DVD.

Anyway, the movie we decided to watch was Marley & Me. You know, the one with Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston and a crazy golden lab called Marley? I am so glad we got to see this movie! It was a wonderful, feel good story about a guy and his dog.

Here is a perfect example of people thinking it's easier to get a puppy than it is to have a kid. I might agree a puppy is WAY cheaper than having a kid but I certianly don't agree that it's easier. Now I say this assuming that those who get a dog are taking care of it in a responsible way. Not just throwing it in the garage or a dog run and forgetting about it.

When my wife and I moved into our first house together we thought it was time to get a dog. I remember having several dogs throughout my childhood and thought, "Having a dog was no big deal then, we can handle this!" So not knowing where to go to get a dog (except that you DON'T go to a pet store), we picked up the Bargain Finder of all things and found a little farm just north of Airdrie that had Bichon/King Charles Spaniel puppies. We drove the 45 minutes out of town to see what we could see. Upon arriving at the farm, we saw dozens of dogs of all kinds wandering around the grounds ready to greet us as we exited the car. We went inside and found two puppies left. One male and one female. The male had more spaniel qualities and he was the one Mrs. Big Nate fell in love with. So we parted with $400 and immediately went home to figure out what all was needed to make a happy, comfortable home for our new "son", Mojo.

Fast forward a few of months. We are both loving our new addition but he has caused us both to lose a ton of sleep, completely upset the routine in our lives, cost approximately $3500 in supplies, toys, vet visits, puppy training courses, doggie daycare and food. We had no idea what were getting into! We did not plan ahead or research our decision before acting. On top of all that, we had three cats at the time, one did not adjust to the new family member. So much so she stopped eating, developed fatty liver disease and passed away a month after Mojo came home. This was extremely difficult on us as we felt her death to be our fault by bringing home the dog. We still feel guilty to this day. RIP Sneaky...

In the end, it was all worth it. Mojo is a wonderful dog who loves us as much as we love him. He fits us like a glove and we couldn't be happier. We've had him over four years now and can't even imagine our lives without him.

Marley & Me captured the one thing I believe most in, sticking by your choice to have a dog! These people went through hell with this dog and no matter how bad it got, they never gave up on him. I won't go into the ending in case you have never seen this movie and plan to, but suffice it to say that Marley & Me hits very close to my home when it comes how we feel about our dog and the other dogs in our lives that we love so much.

I want to post a quote from the movie and you'll see what I mean.

"A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A wate- logged stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"

What more can you say about a dog?

Dog Jog a Success!

Well we attended the Calgary Humane Society's 2009 Dog Jog.

It was a blast! We couldn't believe how many people and poooches were there. We arrived at Fish Creek Park around 11:30 and the place was buzzing. There was every kind of dog you can think of.

The thing I found was that the atmosphere was surprisingly subdued. Most dogs were very well behaved and the dog owners quite calm. The weather was perfect, no too hot or too windy. I think though, a lot of the dogs found it to be quite warm half way through the walk. It was a pretty open area with little or no shade. I know our Oscar was panting most of the way and Mojo was pretty beat by the time we finished the 5 kms too. So this may have had something to do with the general feel of the event. I loved every minute of being there but I expected it to be more exciting and crazy with so many dogs in one place. I'm not saying this was a bad thing, it just wasn't what I was kind of expecting.

As a registrant, both my wife and I received a gift package that included a box of treats for the dogs, a dog jog t-shirt, bottled water, granola bar, beef jerky, poo bags and various coupons and brochures from local pet businesses. It was a pretty good haul for the $25 fee.

The Humane Society reports the event was a success in raising the much needed funds to help them continue the good work they do for our city's pets in need. THere were around 400 registered participants and there were prizes awarded to the four top pledges. $1025, $740, $685 and $600. We raised $520 so we weren't far off. Actually I should clarify, Mrs. Big Nate did most of fund raising so the thanks should go to her for taking the time to hit up our friends and co-workers for their generosity.

We certainly will be attending again next year.

Thanks again to all our friends, family and co-workers that supported us in this great cause for Calgary dogs!

Father's Day

All my life I've had the impression that Father's Day is not as important or at least held in the same light as Mother's Day. I always thought that Dads got the shaft every June. I'm not sure what it is but we seem to take Mother's Day more seriously.

As a kid I was guilty of not putting in the same kind of thought or effort into my Dad's gift as I did for my Ma. Dad always got a crappy ashtray that I made myself or the proverbial tie. Mom got breakfast in bed or a nice brunch, along with a gift and even some flowers.

Now I'm no father, I've never had kids of my own. I'm not sure how things go these days for dads but I'm sure we are all still looking at Father's Day as a far off second to Mother's Day. Mrs. Big Nate and I still celebrate these days for each other as we look at Mojo, Oscar, Mr. Goo and Monster as our very own fur-kids. So gifts are presented from the dogs and cats.

As a responsible pet owner there are some things that I would certainly appreciate as a gift. The biggest thing being the gift of time. In my house I am responsible for walking our dogs, feeding the cats and cleaning up the poooh from our back yard. Now if I was a father who also had children and had to deal with all the responsibilities that came with that, I know I would love a Father's Day gift of Poooh clean up and dog walking. This would save me quite a bit of time each week to do other things I enjoy...like blogging.

So if you are looking for a great gift to give your Dad this Father's Day, don't go out buy him some crap tie that he won't wear, get him a Poooh Busters gift certificate! It's the gift of time and it a gift that shows you care.

Visit www. PooohBusters.com or call 403-462-4351 today and contact us for your gift certificate. Your Dad and his dog will love you for it!

Calgary Blue Bin Recycling

Well I knew it wouldn't be long before I posted my first rant!

The Calgary Blue Bin Recycling Program has begun in my part of the city. I live in Auburn Bay, SE and we received our blue bins approximately 3 weeks ago. Since then I have been anticipating the day when I get to put my bin out for collection. Proudly showing that Mrs. Big Nate and I recycle everything we are able! Today was the day I put my bin out for the first time.

Now, I walk Mojo and Oscar every morning from 5:00 to 5:30...ish. I get to see what my neighbours are throwing away every Thursday morning. Sometimes I am appalled at the large amounts of garbage that folks put our every week for pick up. But I thought, when recycling begins, everyone will have much less garbage in their bags. Wrong!

As I was walking the boys this morning, I was very disappointed to see that maybe 20% of the homes in my cul-de-sac actually put out their bins for collection. We have had these bins for over three weeks and I have seen some homes where the bin is still sitting out on the lawn, untouched and unused. Anyway, of the 20% I saw, over half were not placed correctly according to the directions provided with the bins. So these folks must have pulled the instruction pamphlet off the lids and immediately discarded it in the recycle bin itself. Good for them, they're recycling already! But now I have to wonder what they are recyclying? If they didn't read the instruction pamphlet on proper bin placement, they obviously didn't read what you can and cannot place inside the bin to be recycled!

Come on Calgary! The city has provided us an opprotunity to be responsible citizens of the Earth. They couldn't have made it more easy either! No separating items like in the old days, no storing all your recyclables in the garage for weeks till you get enough to warrant the trip to the recycling depot. Just throw your items in the bin and put it out once a week with your garbage. What could be easier? All we have to do is pay the bill (in which we have no choice anyway) and read the instructions on how to do it. That's it! Just read the instructions to make the poor guy's life easier who has to pick this up from our streets.

In defense of Calgary on a whole, I was driving through McKenzie Lake on my way to catch the morning bus to work and saw at least 80% of the homes in that neighbourhood had put out their bins. At least 90% of those bins were placed correctly. So people in McKenzie Lake know how to read instructions! This makes me feel better as I know that not all of Calgary is following the example set by my fellow Auburn Bay residents.

We have been provided the tools to do the right thing, now let's get off our disposable society butts and take part in showing the future generation how continue this legacy of caring for our environment!

For more info visit the City of Calgary website on the Blue Bin Recycling Program.
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_0_780_237_0_43/http%3B/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Waste+and+Recycling+Services/Recycling+Information/Residential+Services/Blue+Cart+Recycling/Blue+Cart+Recycling+FAQ.htm?f=FromFlashPage

Welcome to Poooh Busters' first blog!

The intent of this blog is to provide up-to-date information on the happenings in and around Calgary regarding pet events and care. I will also provide our recommendations for quality pet care, services and products.

I may use this blog from time to time as a forum for my own rants on what bothers me when it comes to issues that I have a passion for. Two are pet care and environmental issues. So please bear with me as I ramble on these things every once in a while.

Stick around and check back often. Especially if you are a Poooh Busters client. There will be lots of great information regarding route changes and service announcements.

Be sure to visit our site! http://www.pooohbusters.com/

___________________________

On to our first official announcement and sign of support for a worthy Calgary cause!


One the major events that happens annually in our fair city of Calgary is the Calgary Humane Society's Dog Jog. The goal of this yearly event is to raise much needed funds for the shelter.


The Dog Jog consists of pet lovers registering themselves and their dogs to participate in a 2 km or 5 km walk/run. There are tons of other fun activities and prizes for everyone who attends. Pet photography, caricatures, dog pedicures and massages, contests and more. This year the event will be hosted by CTV's Karen Owen! The contests are for dogs who show a unique talent, sing, dance and those who dress up to compete as look-a-likes.


It's a ton of fun and the sights are hilarious. You must come down and support this very worthy cause! Join us at 11:00 am on May 24, 2009 at Fish Creek Park, Glennfield Group Area. Areas A& B. Visit http://calgaryhumane.ca/ for further info and a map to the venue.


See you there!