Fit As Fido

[fitasfido]

So excited to find this site. I'm a medical doctor an author of Fit As Fido: Follow Your Dog to Better Health, a fun book talking about using your relationship with your dog to improve your health. I have two fabulous soft-coated wheaten terriers, one of whom just started rehearsals for a high school production of Annie. Was working on targeting techniques to get him to independently head onto stage to a designated spot and got some tips on Dogwise's forum, with a suggestions to check out this site. It's been great fun teaching him this new trick - wonderful bonding time and frankly I never imagined he'd actually learn it! Thought it'd be fun once the performance is over to work on some new tricks - that's why I'm here. He's also a hospital therapy dog and his current "trick" everyone likes is that he'll wave on command. Any suggestions for good tricks to try that can be learned by a slightly stubborn terrier?

Also, my website www.FitAsFido.com has a celebrity spotlight where we interview folks about how their dogs have improved their lives. If any of you or your dogs have attained "celebrity status" by doing something others would be interested in hearing about, please let me know so we can add you to our celebrity spotlight!

Thanks and looking forward to finding out about fun tricks I can try with my dogs!:dogsmile:

 

[tigerlily46514]

Wow! WELCOME!:welcome:
Ha, i have not read your book YET, but i probably will now that i've heard of it!
I'm no celebrity, just regular person with an awesome dog, :dogbiggrin:but, YOU ARE SO RIGHT, having a dog DOES make people healthier,i think!! Physically, mentally, emotionally, in every way!

since we've got our border collie, i have lost that ten pounds i did not need from walking him so much. I feel much fitter! So does Craig. And, just admiring Buddy and talking about him all the time has sort of joined our family together even stronger.
And, his antics and all that are helping us not get so depressed about our town is in full blown economic depression and we lost our jobs. Buddy IS good medicine for our home for sure!! We definitly get outside even more because of Buddy, even in weather we normally would not bother to go out!! We've re-acquainted with neighbors (and their dogs) all up and down street...lotsa nice lil perks to having Buddy in our lives.
Learning how to care for Buddy, and how to understand him to help him to understand us and learn tricks and stuff, was good for all of us here.

You are absolutely correct about dogs are so good for people!!:msngrin:

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Tigerlily: LOL, I've told a couple people that if the whole world had BCs, there either wouldn't be an obesity problem or there would be a loooot of torn up houses.

But anywho, a big welcome to the Academy! Happy to have you here. Really like Soft-coated Wheatens although I've never owned one. ^^ There are tons of trick ideas in the past challenges forum, and this month's is to teach your dog to Easter Egg Hunt--pick up at least 3 eggs and place them in a basket(and pick up the basket too if you want!). Very cute. Another good, simple therapy trick is "shy"--if you have a stand-offish patient(kids, mainly)-"That's alright, Fido's shy too." (From a bow, down, sit, or stand--I use it as "BOO!" meaning cover face from a down. Taught it around Halloween.) You could also use, "Hey Bandit, what do you think of [insert sports team here]?" Crawl is also a cute trick. Hiking a football is great for little boys and generally football fans. Mud knows this trick and everyone really loves it. ('Hut hut, HIKE!' is the command I use.)

'Say your prayers' might be useful for the Annie production also. Looots of tricks that would be great for that.

Hmm...what else...well check the challenges, and you can check the "Meet Our Team" forum. Check out everyone's profiles and read their trick lists. Might get some ideas there. 101 Dog Tricks with Kyra Sundance and Chaucy is also a wonderful book. Hope this helps, good luck, enjoy the site, and welcome!!

 

[snooks]

A big welcome and hope to hear some of your advice/tips being a professional. :dogcool: You are a human MD I assume. Do you find a lot of cross over like I do with canine/human health like cardio/cancer prevention/disease? I seem to find more cross over's in my life that are astounding. My MIL had lung cancer at the same time my dog had osteosarcoma. Many of the tests the canine oncologist discussed for my dog I asked about for my MIL and found them to be appropriate like a bone scan and biopsy. She was on state medical so they offered little unless you asked for it. But in the asking we got lots of good answers thanks to my tough little dog and she made a full recovery, cancer free for 8 years now. AND she quit smoking. YAY!

Glad ur here. :dogrolleyes:

 

[fitasfido]

FitAsFido

You're right that human and veterinary medicine share lots in common. I went to med school the same time my best friend went to Cornell Vet School. The similarities in diagnosis and treatment for many conditions were amazing! Although, of course, differences in metabolism, etc. means you can't just give your dog your medicine!

Will be checking out the tricks challenges once we're through performance nights. Keep fingers and tails crossed! :dogbiggrin:

 

[fitasfido]

Hope you order a copy of Fit As Fido and enjoy it! Let me know your thoughts after reading it! Thanks.

 

[fitasfido]

Great ideas for tricks - this site will be wonderful. It's so easy to just get stuck in a rut having one's dog repeat the same things. I know my dogs are happiest when challenged to do something new. I think they enjoy it plus they like seeing me get SO excited when they finally "get it!"

 

[snooks]

Yes don't worry - not cross medicating but ideas can flow between experts was my thought. Many human meds are doggie toxic too like ibuprofen etc. Hopefully no one took that implication that any med be given to a different species or even and un-prescribed individual of the same species.