Hi and welcome to Wednesday Pet Roundup!

* End of summer vacation and the kids are back at school. Did you know that your pets may experience empty nest syndrome? From abc news:
     “Some people are really flexible,” says (Dr. Debra) Horwitz.  “Things will happen to them at work and they will simply say, ‘O.K.,’ and adapt to them. Other people will see that their pencil box has been moved and scream, ‘Who was at my desk?!’ Animals are like that too. It is a part of the normal variation.”

Spending a little more time with your pet, extra walks before work, and leaving them food-enhanced toys might help them feel better.

* A Chihuahua who was attacked by an owl…a pug who ate 100 rocks….a golden retriever bitten by an otter. These pets are all nominated for the VPI Hambone awards, for the “most ridiculous pet insurance claims.”  Personally, I don’t think the claims are ridiculous. But they are unusual.

* Over at Be the Change 4 Animals, find out how to benefit shelters every time you shop! The Adopt a Shelter program is easy to use, and costs nothing extra.

*CONTESTS:
Still time to enter to win cool juniper fetching sticks, the deadline is midnight tonight! 

And, check out Koly and Kelly’s K9Kamp this Thursday for another great chance to win great dog prizes such as collars, leashes, DVDs, toys, FIDO Friendly magazine, and more!

Are you following K9Kamp? Let’s see how some of our featured bloggers are doing this week!

 1. Fit As Fido
    – Thursday: 85-minute walking to and from fundraising for the Doggie Donation Corps
    – Friday: 40-minute hike in the woods in the morning and 45-minute after-dinner neighborhood walk
    – Saturday: 45-minute hike in the woods
    – Sunday: 15-minute run in the morning and 15-minute walk in the afternoon before heading out to see Wings Over Pittsburgh
    – Monday: two 20-minute neighborhood walks
    – Tuesday: 40-minute hike in the woods
That’s a grand total so far of 325 minutes AND 2 pounds lost! 

 2. Life with Lulu and Wally too

We sure got our exercise this week!  We made plans to attend a 2-mile Sunday walk with our training group.  We arrived at the walk 1/2 hour early and did a 20 minute warm-up walk, then did our 2 miles around the dam at a brisk pace.  Good thing we got in a 20 minute walk on Friday, because our usual 1 hour walk around the dam only took us 30 minutes!  (Apparently, we usually walk at a snail’s pace.)  Lu was exhausted afterward and fell asleep in the car on the ride home!

 In total, we walked 70 minutes between Friday and Sunday.  

3. I Still Want More Puppies
This week, Bella and I managed to get outside for one two good walks.  One was before a play date – we met another dog outside our house and walked around the neighborhood together before letting them off leash in the backyard).  The other was just a nice early morning walk on one of our rare sunny days.  Here on the east coast, it’s been a bit of a monsoon – so, in order to complete the remaining minutes of this week’s challenge, we had to improvise.  Bella and I did some laps around the first floor – I had to entice her to follow me around with a rope toy, so it turned into more of a walk/tug.  However, we made it work. 🙂


4. My Brown Newfies

Normally Sherman and I do a 20 minute walk about 5 days a week, so this week in addition to those walks, Sunday we did 2 30 minutes walks. We started off with a normal pace walk and then gradually went into a fast paced walk. About the last 300 feet we picked our pace up to a jog and then to top it off I ended the walk with attempting to do a few sit ups. Sherman held my feet for me:) It’s been quite some time since I have tried to do sit ups and I had a hard time doing 1!!





How did Kelly do?
She LOVES to walk, and it is basically only knowing how much she loves it –and needs it– that gets me off my butt and gets me out there walking.  We got out for a walk mid-day every day. The weather has been beautiful (after the floods anyway!) and that helps make our walks pleasurable. Knowing you all on k9Kamp are stepping it up too is motivating me!

Now, for the winner of last week’s contest:
Melissa Freer of No Dog About It!
Here is the comment she posted:
2 1/2 hour walk on Sunday, 1 hour on Saturday and an hour each day this week except for[Friday] (too late getting home from work).
She won:

e-subscription to FIDO Friendly magazine 
Marley and Me the Puppy Years DVD from Fox Home Theater and the Home Theater Forum
Sam’s Closet leash and collar set courtesy of Krazy for Pets
Custom etched pet tag from Tag Me