Harley & Me

The best experience I had during this project was that it gave me a platform to discuss things that I believe should be talked about more. I hope that some of my blog posts sparked conversations between other dog owners. I think creating this blog has helped me better understand what it means to be a journalist and given me a better understanding of how the internet works. I now understand the importance of promoting your work and how that can lead to more view interaction. In my future career, I look forward to applying these skills to my own personal website. I currently have a website for my photography, but it doesn’t get a lot of viewer interaction. I think the things I’ve learned with this blog can transfer over to my personal website, and hopefully raise my views.

I want to take a minute to talk about my experience with this blog. I’ve had a blast getting to share with you all what it is like for a college student to own a dog, from my perspective. Dogs are something I’ve always been passionate about so writing about them comes naturally to me. If I could improve one thing about my blog, it would be to post more. Blogs are about constant content, and I was not the best about updating regularly. Regarding promoting my posts, I should have tweeted multiple times about reading the posts, not just one tweet per post. I could have promoted my posts on other social media sites, like Instagram or Facebook.

When looking at my blog’s statistics, I noticed that my most popular post this semester was a tie between the “Dog Parks: Safe or a Health Hazard” piece and the “Tips for Dog Supplies” piece. Both of these posts had six views, but only the dog park safety piece was posted during my most popular week. The most popular week on my blog was the week of March 11, which I got 12 views and five visitors. I think the reason both those posts had the most viewership was because they talked about my personal experiences instead of how to generally take care of a dog. I used my experiences in hopes that other people could relate to them. The most surprising thing I noticed in my site’s stats was that I had one viewer in Australia.

Before rescuing Harley, I never used an electric collar for training. I had only ever heard negative things about electric collars and how shocking your dog was immoral. My family always used positive reinforcement and treats, which seemed to do the trick for the training we were concerned with. After getting a dog of my own, I started to look into electric collar training.

Harley was easy to train when it came to basic training, so using positive reinforcement and treats worked. As Harley grew up, barking started to become more of an issue. She would bark at every noise she heard, especially when someone knocked on the front door. That’s when I started researching bark collars and asking around for what other people suggested. A friend of mine suggested I get an automatic bark collar.

I purchased the SportDog NoBark SBC-6. I wasn’t sure if the collar would work, so its affordable price lured me into trying it. When the dog barks while wearing the collar, the vibration from the bark is detected and a static stimulation is run through the collar. The stimulation starts off at the lowest level and increases up to level six with each bark. What I love about this collar is that it is automatic. I don’t always have time to reach for a remote, so it’s convenient that the collar distributes the stimulation almost immediately.

I was skeptical about using an electric collar on my dog, but I highly recommend trying it as an option. The bark collar works wonderfully on Harley; most of the time all I have to do is put the collar on her and she won’t bark. Electric collars can be pricey, so I recommend doing your research and asking professional trainers on what would work best for your dog specifically.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Are you looking for new things to do with your dog around the San Marcos area? Based on my personal experience, I’m going to list what I’ve found to be the top five places, in no particular order, to take your dog in the area.

• An apartment’s on-site dog park – If you live in an apartment, keeping a dog inside all day can be difficult on you and the dog. Most apartments have on-site dog parks where their residents can take their dogs to play with other residents’ dogs. Taking Harley to my apartment’s dog park has been a lifesaver. We go every single day, rain or shine. Harley is able to get the proper exercise she needs without us having to go far from home.
• A sand volleyball court or sand box – No one wants to take their dog to the park on rainy days when the ground is muddy. One day after it had stormed, I decided to take Harley to the sand volleyball court for her to run around. It was perfect because she was still able to run around without getting too dirty. She loved rolling around in the sand and chasing the ball when I threw it. I recommend some place with sand if it’s too muddy to go to a dog park.
• Five Mile Dam – It’s a shame to keep a dog inside on a beautiful day, so Harley and I often go to Five Mile Dam. It’s a great place for dogs who love water! Harley loves to get her feet wet and chase after balls or sticks. We often spend a couple hours there, so Harley is always exhausted by the time we get home. There are often a lot of other dogs for your dog to play with.
• Rio Vista Park – This is the perfect place for dogs who love people and love getting into the river. There are always people kayaking or floating in the river. Rio Vista Park is a great place for dogs to socialize with other dogs while their owners also get the chance to enjoy the river.
• San Marcos Dog Park – The local San Marcos Dog Park is the most common place that people take their dogs to play. The city’s dog park is the perfect place for San Marcos residents, as well as Texas State students, to take their dogs for exercise and socialization. The park is separated into large dog and small dog areas, both equipped with agility courses.

Daily exercise is important to your dog’s health, and finding new ways to keep them entertained can be difficult. As a college student, finding time in your schedule to go places with your dog can be challenging. These five places are easily accessible and your dog will thank you for taking them!

I interviewed Christina Montez about her experiences with owning a dog while she is a full-time student at Texas State University.

Finding the right supplies for your dog can be tricky. There are so many different brands and products to choose from. If you’ve never owned a dog before, it can be overwhelming. When I first rescued Harley, I was lucky enough to have parents to give me advice on what they’ve used with our family dogs.  Every dog is different, so what your dog needs is different than what Harley needs. Here are some tips and suggestions based off what I use for Harley.

When it comes to dog food, I choose quality over price. The brand I buy is Merrick Grain Free rabbit and chick pea recipe. Merrick brand is a little on the expensive side, but I consider it worth the price. The food has high protein content, making it great for high energy dogs. The high content of Omega-3 and six fatty acids is great for your dog’s skin and coat. Most pet supply stores sell Merrick brand, such as Petco and Chewy.com.

An essential product that every dog owner should purchase is a high-quality grooming brush. Harley sheds an insane amount, so I have to brush her every other day. If I go too long without brushing her, the entire apartment is filled with balls of fur.

Having a dog in college is no easy feat. You spend all day in class while your dog sits at home alone, waiting for you to come back home. I’m sure the dog is bored and lonely all day. I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be bored and lonely all day long. That’s why I think having friends with dogs is extremely important. If you’re like me, school and my dog come before any socialization for me. I found a core group of friends who all have dogs like me, making my life so much easier.

My group of friends will hang out every day at our apartment’s dog park. Sometimes we have so much fun that we end up spending over two hours at the park. This is perfect for both me and my dog! Harley gets to socialize with her group of friends while I hang out with my friends. On nice days where I have extra time, I will take Harley to the dog park several times in one day. I feel bad keeping her inside all day when I could take her to the park to play with other dogs. Dogs need to socialize with other dogs in order to help the dog become confident and stable.

It is so helpful to have friends with dogs because they understand how hard it can be. There are some days where I am so swamped with homework that I don’t have time to take Harley to the dog park. My friends will pick Harley up from my apartment and take her out with them so that I can study. Or if one of us is at work when the rest of us are going to the park, we’ll go by their apartment and get the dog so they can exercise. My friends have been a huge help on multiple occasions when it comes to this. I am so grateful to have them to help me out. That’s why I think it is so crucial to have a core group of friends that you can depend on to help you out if needed.

When browsing for blogs that are similar to mine, I stumbled upon a blog called That Mutt. This blog is run by a woman named Lindsay Stordahl as well as her two writers, Julia Thomson and Barbara Rivers. Their mission for this blog is to educate their readers about dog training, exercising and dieting. What drew me in was that there are multiple people’s perspectives that go into writing this blog. It differs from my blog because I only have my personal perspective.

If you are going to That Mutt to learn more about dog training, the training articles are easily accessible and sorted by which articles are the most popular. The most popular article is about how to stop a dong’s possessiveness. The article included how to tell if your dog is possessive as well as steps in which to correct this behavior. At the end of the article, there are links to other articles that could be helpful to the reader, which I found extremely interesting.

That Mutt has two sponsors, Darwin’s Natural Pet Products and Pet First Aid & CPR. Darwin’s Natural Pet Products is a dog food company that focuses on high quality ingredients and raw food. Their meals are gluten free and wheat free. Pet First Aid & CPR is an online training course for people who want to learn about first aid and CPR for their pets. Because That Mutt has these sponsors, they write a lot of giveaway blog articles where they review products and giveaway the product to a reader.

If you are an dog lover and are looking for more blogs to check out, give That Mutt a read!

My dog Harley spends most of her day inside when I’m at class. When I come home, I make sure to take her outside for at least an hour. She is part Catahoula leopard dog, which is a working dog breed, so she is very high-energy. High energy dogs can become destructive if not exercised enough or properly. Active dog breeds are recommended to get about 60 – 90 minutes of daily exercise. Therefore, I’ve found several energy-releasing outlets for Harley.

The first outlet I found for her was taking her to the on-site dog park at my apartment complex. I would take her at the same time every day for about an hour. We started making friends with the people who would also take their dogs at the same time. Soon enough, we had a little dog park squad! Harley would get so excited when the clock hit 5 o’clock because that meant she was about to go outside and hang out with her friends. Some days we would stay out at the park for over three hours while our dogs ran around and exercised.

Our group of dog friends started doing activities other than going to the dog park. On nice days, we will all pile into one car and go to Five Mile Dam. The dogs LOVE to swim in the river, fetch sticks and socialize with other dogs! We usually spend about two to three hours at Five Mile Dam, so the dogs get plenty of exercise. Also, we started taking our dogs on group walks. We will walk down the street we live on, and it usually ends up being about a two-mile walk. On rainy days, we will take our dogs to PetSmart or other dog-friendly stores so that the dogs can at least get out of the apartments and socialize.

Unfortunately, many college students don’t realize that you have to exercise your dogs daily. I have heard so many stories of students getting a dog then taking it to a shelter because they don’t have time for it. If you are a college student looking to get a dog, do a little research beforehand. Some breeds need more exercise than others, but they all need some exercise regardless of breed.

I grew up surrounded by dogs because my family has always owned them. The past four dogs my family has owned were Brittany Spaniels because my mom loves that breed. Brittany Spaniels are high-energy dogs and require a lot of exercise, so we take them to the dog park often. I have always thought of the dog park as a positive, efficient way to release a dog’s energy. However, the dog park at my apartment complex has me thinking that dog parks are not always necessarily safe.

Two weeks ago, several dogs who regularly visit the dog park started to get sick. For days, none of the owners were quite sure what was going on. One girl took her dog to the vet and the dog came back testing positive for a bacterium. Most of the dogs got tested and came back negative even though they were showing symptoms. We decided to take our dogs to do other daily activities instead of going to the dog park at our apartment complex. We did things such as going on walks, going to Five Mile Dam and taking them to the San Marcos dog park. After a couple of days, all the dogs who stopping going to the apartment’s dog park stopped have symptoms and made a full recovery.

It has been very difficult to be certain that it is safe to take our dogs back to the park. Some owners refused to get their dogs checked because their dogs had not gotten sick yet; they didn’t see the danger behind still taking the dogs to the park. I personally have not taken Harley back to the park for her safety, so I have found other ways to exercise her. I had always taken advantage of the fact that none of our family dogs had gotten sick from going to a dog park. Now, I will always carefully consider what kind of parks I take Harley to in order to keep her healthy.

Hello! My name is Nicole Wolf and I am a journalism major at Texas State University. I will be using this website as a place to post about what it is like to have a dog while a student in college. I adopted my dog Harley during the summer of 2017, and she has quickly become a huge part of my life. She is a 2-year-old catahoula leopard and Shar-Pei mix who requires a lot of attention, but also will let me sleep until noon on my days off. Owning a dog is a big responsibility, especially when you are a full-time college student.

When adults hear that I am a dog owner in college, they usually say, “How could you have a dog in college? That is irresponsible and unfair to the dog.” In my experience, adults assume that a college student won’t make time to properly take care of the dog. I hope this website shows people that you don’t have to be out of school to be a good dog owner. I carve out time in my schedule to take Harley to the dog park every day for at least an hour, no matter how busy I am. Taking dog is hard work, but it is not impossible for a college student.

I will be writing about all things pertaining to dog ownership, including the good, the bad and the ugly. My goal is to address the common misconceptions about the irresponsibility of college students. Unfortunately, there are the handful of students who adopt or buy a dog without realizing how much of a responsibility it is, but they are the minority. I hope I can show the naysayers that owning a dog in college can be a good thing. Harley has helped me in so many ways and I cannot image getting through my college career without her.

I made an Instagram account for Harley so that my followers can keep up with Harley and what I post here on the blog!