Improving Relationships between pets and people
Real Life, Real Pets
At Dolittle’s we know that life with pets can sometimes be challenging. The good news is that we’re here to help with your furry frustrations. We have picked up quite a few helpful tips over our 25 years of listening to customers just like you. Before you find yourself at the end of your leash, check out these common challenges and our specialized solutions.
The Shredder
Does this sound familiar? “I gave my dog a (insert toy name here) and in (number) (unit of time) they tore it to shreds.” It’s familiar to Dolittle’s because we hear it (number) times a day. Our support for this challenge is to look at two dog behaviors: playing and chewing. While they are different they often intersect with both the object involved and your behavior. You and your dog can play with a chew, think: fetch this bone. Likewise, your dog can chew on a toy. The challenge is helping your dog distinguish the difference. To them the value of a chew and a toy are the same. Start by using toys for just playful interaction and take them away afterward. Following playtime, offer something to chew on. This will help your dog separate the activity and the object. Once the behavior is learned you can worry a little less about a new (toy) being torn to (tiny nouns).
Our Shredder Doggie Bag offers your destructo-dog positive options for their busy chompers.
The Itcher
First off, we’re sorry. Having a dog thump the floor at 2a.m. is enough to get on anyone's nerves. Trust us, we’ve been there. At Dolittle's we address three main things with itching: internal influences, external influences, and environmental influences.
By internal we mean anything your pet ingests. Food is often the easiest and least expensive way to address an itch. We recommend a diet with a simple ingredient list and beneficial oil supplements. Better still is to offer frozen food. To us, switching from one dry food to another dry food isn't radically different. Frozen food is a significant change that can kick the itch.
External influences include anything that you put on your dog. This means shampoos, wipes, and even bedding. Our recommendation is to use chemical-free, fragrance-free everything. At least for a test period of 30 to 40 days.
Lastly, we go over the environment. Airborne pollen is present nearly ten months out of 12 in our region and can spike several times a year. Dolittle's advice is to rinse your dog regularly in high pollen season. We also suggest customers keep a calendar. It's tough to nail down an itch source because by the time you think one solution is working, a new source of the itch may arise. You may need to find ways to live with itching. That is unless you want to encapsulate your furry friend in a giant hamster ball.
The Itcher Doggie Bag is a collection of products geared toward soothing the itch. We’ve tossed in a flea toy so your pup can get some revenge.
The Doodie Calls
There’s nothing like the discussion of poop to bring us back to real life with real dogs. At Dolittle’s we feel it’s our duty to offer helpful advice regarding, well, doodie (hey, you knew where we were going). Let’s be honest dogs can be gross. They can rub their butt on the carpet, roll in who knows what, and sometimes eat from the litter box. Let’s not forget the occasional bout of (ahem) loose stool, or vomiting. The good news is once again Dolittle’s has got your back. We have heard, and in some cases experienced first hand, the gross bits of a relationship with a dog. Fortunately, there are effective solutions for some of them.
Pick up our Doodie Calls Doggie Bag. You’ll find several helpful products to curb your dog’s interest in poo as well as some items to help tame their tummy.
The Food Critic
“My dog is sooooooo picky.” It would seem that there is only one picky dog out there, the problem is everyone has that one. Our initial approach to picky eaters is to evaluate the dog’s weight and their current feeding program. We often find that picky dogs are simply being overfed. Many customers trust the feeding suggestions on the bag. While that is a good place to start, you should also listen to your dog. Forcing them, or tricking them, to eat can lead to other health problems. Before you go that direction Dolittle’s suggests taking a little step back. Try offering less food, or even skipping a meal. They’re going to be okay. If they're still a bit picky try enhancing the food with toppers, cans, broths, and more.
Pickiness aside for just a second, there is no harm in switching your dog's diet. In fact it can be beneficial for several reasons. Switching can alleviate itching, dry skin, loose stool, and even pickiness. Cat owners are all too familiar with switching foods on a daily basis. Likewise, it strikes us as unnatural for a living creature to eat the same meal twice a day for its entire life. Dolittle’s advocates a rotational diet that includes beef, fish, and poultry.
The Food Critic Doggie Bag covers all the bases for picky pups. You’ll find new protein sources and new food types like freeze-dried and stewed.
The Stinker
Sometimes it feels like the majority of problems we hear at Dolittle’s center around one underlying theme: How do I get my dog to be less of a dog? Our observations are these: dogs itch, dogs tear stuff up, dogs sometimes eat things they shouldn’t, and dogs can smell bad too. As with our previous solutions we have products to help. But understand, your dog will always be a dog. But OK, OK, your mother-in-law is coming over, or you just can't take Fido’s rank breath or behind-the-ear foulness (you know what we’re talking about) any longer. We get it, and as we’ve said before, we want to help improve the relationship between your pet and you. So yes we can help de-stink your best friend. We have shampoos, breath chews, room deodorizers, and much more. All of these products have been used by us for years so we can attest to their effectiveness. Stop by and learn more.
The Stinker Doggie Bag helps knock out odors. It’s our little DIY Self Service Salon kit.
About US
Shop
Our Stores