Happy Autumn

Luc lasted 3 seconds in the Halloween mask in the above photo. How do you get your dog to pose for pictures? Even without the mask, Luc hates having his picture taken, which is why most of the photos I have of him are when he's sleeping :)

Are you gullible when it comes to your dog?

Last month I told you I was putting together a Problem Solver Section on the site. When I started putting these pages together and read your survey results for favorite products, I may have gone a little crazy. And poor Luc was the guinea pig for testing out some of your tips and recommendations.

For example, someone recommended a toy called bacon bubbles. Now, I admit that I really thought this was a brilliant idea. Every dog loves bacon, right? And dogs love chasing things so put the two together and you have magic, or so I thought. I even got the video camera ready and then I just waited and then waited some more. Luc just stared at the bubbles and by the time he decided to chase a bubble, the bubble disappeared. So basically, it's just a video of Luc sitting still. And the smell! I had to wash my hands 5 or 6 times to get the smell of the fake bacon off my hands.

But someone's dog really loved the bacon bubbles enough to recommend it. Every dog is different. Luc has dozens of toys and we ALWAYS go back to the basic Kong. He loves carrots and working to get them out of the Kong. I love that it's a guaranteed way to keep him out of trouble for 10 minutes.

Another product that I was disappointed in was the dog whistle that was supposed to help with nuisance barking. A couple of people highly recommended this in the survey, but Luc didn't even bat an eye when I used the whistle. Maybe I was using it wrong (highly possible).

I've also got a drawer full of collars, harnesses, toys, that weren't as big a hit as I thought they were going to be.

Don't even get me started on how much money I've spent on products for his allergies. I could probably buy an Island somewhere with the money I've spent trying every product that claimed to eliminate allergy symptoms. The problem is that what works for one dog doesn't necessarily work for others. So, when someone tells me that raw honey is a miracle and cured their dog's itching, of course I'm going to try it. The honey didn't work for Luc. But we've had great success with coconut oil, yet others may not get the same results.

It's all trial and error. When it comes to my dog, I'll do anything to make his life happier. So I may have a junk drawer full of rejects, but I also have a lot of great items that have improved our lives. So take these recommendations with a full understanding of your dog's likes and dislikes.

Your Favorite Problems Solvers

As I mentioned above, the problem solver pages are ready. Thank you to everyone for filling out the survey or commenting on the site with your tips and advice. You will be helping others in a big way! Keep those suggestions coming; chances are I'll try them :)

I will keep the survey available here , and will update the problem solver pages periodically.

Your Newsletter Poll Results

As a compromise, I'll keep sending out a monthly newsletter and add an additional one every now and then.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Birthday gift from Luc

Yesterday Luc was 10 years old. How did that happen? He's still my baby.

In honor of his birthday, here's an e-book I hope you will find useful from Doggy Dan, The Online Dog Trainer - My Everyday Dog Training Tools,

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Wishes:

Happy Birthday to all our Coton friends who also celebrate birthdays in October:

October

Name	Gender	Home Town	Birth date
Lily	Female	River Edge, NJ	10/1/14
Schnapps		Albuquerque, NM	10/3
Luc	Male	Stuart, FL	10/5/05
Tessa	Female	Marshall, MI	10/11/10
Jillie Bean	Female	Plymouth, NE	10/12/12
Fifi	Female	San Juan, PR	10/13
Merlin	Male	Chappaqua, NY	10/14/10
Sasha	Female	Palmyra, PA	10/16/11
Pierre	Male	Los Angeles, CA	10/17/13
Jolie	Female	DeRidder, LA	10/24/08
Keaton	Male		10/26/10
Keeva	Female	Montesano, WA	10/26/11
Riley	Male	Wake Forest, NC	10/27/10
Cousteau	Male	Midlothian, TX	10/31/05

Want your Coton to get special birthday attention? It's easy; just join our Birthday Club.

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Disclosure: I sometimes receive commissions on products or services I recommend. I always do my best to recommend products that I've either used myself or that align with coton-de-tulear-care.com’s content, purpose and values.