Bogey as "Gaitor Bait"!

Congratulations to Bogey Kass, the 2010 Dogtopia of Dulles Mutt Madness Photo Contest winner!!

It’s time for Mutt Madness! Submit a picture of your dog decked out in their favorite college team’s gear or colors to dulles@dogdaycare.com with the subject line “Mutt Madness” to enter the Mutt Madness 2010 Contest!

Beginning Monday, March 22^nd, pictures will be posted here on our blog and doggies will go paw-to-paw for the most votes! You can vote for your favorite via the comments section and the top vote-getters will move on to the next round until we have our Grand Champion!

ALSO

On the 18^th, 25^th and 27^th bring your pup in for daycare for the March Mutt Madness playoffs!  Each playgroup forms a team (Toybox Timberwolves, Lounge Lumberjacks, and Gym Grizzlies) with the goal to score more points than the other teams. On each of these days, the members of the winning team take home a prize!

Each year we ask you to send in spooky, cute, and original pictures of your dog in their Halloween gear for our “Howl-O-Ween Costume Contest”. We are always thrilled to see our favorite four-legged clients dressed up for the holiday and this year was certainly no disappointment!

Choose your favorite and vote by leaving a comment with the dog’s name and costume. Voting is open until next Wednesday, the 28th, at 5pm. Only one vote per person is allowed, but you can certainly pass the contest along to anyone and everyone you’d like to get the vote out for your fav!!

Goodie bags filled with toys and treats, as well as a 5-Day Pass are up for grabs – Good Luck to our fantastic contestants!

LOCAL POLLS NOW CLOSED!  

FINAL VOTING RESULTS (10/28/2009, 7:30PM): 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS

    BEST IN SHOW AND GRAND PRIZE WINNER:  OFFICER NEMO!

    MOST ORIGINAL:  RED BARON DAISY!

    CUTEST:  PUMPKIN SAMMIE!

    SCARIEST:  DINOSAUR ANNABELLE!

OFFICER NEMO is the winner of a Dogtopia of Dulles 5-DAY Daycare pass, and now advances to the Dogtopia National Competition.  Voting for Nemo in the national competition starts tomorrow, 10/28/2009 and closes on 10/31/2009.  

Thanks to all for participating in our Dulles competition, now GO VOTE FOR NEMO in the national competition !!

A special thanks to Daisy, Harry, Sammie, Buster, Dolly, and Annabelle — don’t forget your goody bag filled with toys, treats, and a gift certificate for a free bath the next time you’re in!!

The Red Baron! (Daisy Carroll)

K9 officer, Nemo Vines, on patrol!

Samantha Mollerup is the cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Annabelle the Dino

Who is the fairest of them all? (Dolly as Snow White!)

BZZZZY Bee Buster!

Firefighter Harry

We all have our favorite tunes, and today’s music technology has made it easier than ever to obtain, organize, categorize, and play our tune of choice in multiple mediums whenever and wherever we want: cruising down the road, working around the house, working-out at the gym, running to our next meeting, or even on that hike in the woods! We are so connected to our music these days, but have you ever wondered about the impact our music choice, and the volume at which its played, has on our dogs?    No?  Well, here at Dogtopia of Dulles  (http://dogdaycare.com/dulles),  we have!!

Early on, we installed multi-media music players in our dog rooms for use by our daycare staff while they manage the dog rooms. Like you and me, each daycare staff member has his/her favorite kind of music: from rock, to country, to electronica, to trance, to oldies, to classical, to … and the list goes on. Over the course of a few weeks, we started to see a correlation between the type of music played and the dog energy level in each dog room. This prompted us to do some research in the area of Psychoacoustics (”the study of the perception of sound” in “dealing with hearing, the sensations produced by sound, and the problems of communication”) and animal Bioacoustics (”the study of sound in non-human animals”). This is not a new area of study. Scientists have been at this for quite some time and have concluded some really interesting results: “country music best brought cows home, classical music made cows produce more milk, dolphins swam in exuberant synchrony to Bach, classical music relaxed dogs”.

There is a great, quick-read book titled Through a Dog’s Ear, by Joshua Leeds (psychoacoustic expert) and Susan Wagner (veterinary neurologist), in which some of the best, most extensive research has been assembled on the impact of sound on dogs. The authors reveal that dogs are just as discerning as humans when it comes to sound, and that dogs are just as susceptible as humans to the impact of sound from the orienting response to sensory confusion to over-stimulation. This book is eye, or rather ear, opening and offers suggestions on how to use sound as a tool with/for your dog in stressful situations. The book also includes a 45 minute sample CD of calming music for your dog.

Does it work? Clinical trials revealed calming in 70% of dogs in kennels/shelters and 85% of dogs in households. Here at Dogtopia of Dulles, the proof is in our dog rooms: we have calmed rambunctious Gym dogs, stressed Lounge dogs, and even tireless Toybox puppies with the use of Through a Dog’s Ear psychoacoustically designed music CDs.

Check out the book and/or visit their website at  http://www.throughadogsear.com/  … it may help benefit not only your dog, but you too!!  Let us know about your results!

If you’re happy with the quality of services we provide, we’d appreciate your vote. 

Vote by going to our website ( http://dogdaycare.com/dulles ) and clicking on the Best of NoVA link to get to the Northern Virgina Magazine’s Best-Of page.   Under the Animal heading, cast your ballot for our location in the Day Care and/or Boarding boxes.  Then just scroll to the bottom and click Submit.  It’s that simple!!

Thanks for your support!!!