About
Photo Courtesy of Ollar Photography.
Wag and Cluck is a blog about health and wellness (with an emphasis on alternative techniques), enrichment ideas for dogs and outdoor tales.
I live with two hounds in the Pacific Northwest – two Doxies and a Beagle/Basset Hound mix – and 20 chickens.
Thank you: @Amanda Jones
As a Certified Veterinary Technician, I use my knowledge to inform stories on health and wellness topics. I’m not practicing but continuing my education through workshops is a high priority. Readers can expect product reviews, updates on my senior dog and how living with a reactive dog changed my life.
As the founder of My Life with Dogs PDX, I also contribute to animal-related publications including Spot Magazine. I’m a PR practitioner as well and create content for a number of animal-related brands. I sit on the board of Core Paws, a marketing platform for hard to place animals.
I’m honored to be a member of the Dog Writers Association of America.
Click here for me Linked In profile.
Some of the topics covered:
- Health & Wellness: Acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, life with a senior dog
- Outdoor adventures: NoseWork, hiking with my hounds, enrichment ideas
- Product reviews: Interactive toys, apparel, food, treat and supplement reviews
- Short stories about My Life With Dogs
In 2012, I became a Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT) as I wanted the knowledge and hands-on learning experiences of a CVT. However, I’m not a veterinarian! All my opinions are based on extensive research and over ten years living with dogs. You should check with your veterinarian before integrating anything new into your dog’s life or routine that I recommend in one my posts.
I invite you to get my updates by email using the form below.
Please email me for a media kit.
Christy – very cool site. If only Pam would let me wear the pants in our relationsip, we could have a dog!
Christy, Thank you for all of your info! I have a small dog that showed signs of discomfort as well then all of a sudden he lost control of his hind legs. He was unable to use them to stand, sit, or walk. I took him to the Vet. one Dr said sx. My husband and I decided we would wait for his Vet. to get back into town she was on vacation. Two days passed and we saw her, she started doing acupuncture right away. He has had 5 treatments and is able to stand, sit, and walk like he is drunk.His feet still curl under though. With your experience how long does it usually take for this to come back? Do you have any advice? Thanks, Steph
Thanks so much for your note Stephanie – I’m sorry that I haven’t been updating this blog very often. I have a column I write for the Examiner.com where I’ve continued this discussion: http://www.examiner.com/x-11292-Portland-Dogs-Examiner
Well – acupuncture is something I do with both my doxie and my senior dog for her osteoarthritis… it took six months of crate rest and acupuncture before Bruiser was back to his normal self. I did however, have him images and seen by a neurosurgeon so I would say make sure you ask the acupuncturist what he/she thinks about the pain management plan and whether things are improving. I would be proactive and make sure you don’t want any imaging done to see which discs have been ruptured if it’s a spinal issue OR look into a vet rehab facility and get their opinion. The one in Portland is Back on Track… it could be something different than what I ran into… your dog may be having hip issues…. keep me posted and I hope for a quick recovery. Best ~Christy
Christy, how can I contact you via e-mail?
christycaplan@gmail.com
You have put in a lot of quality time setting up this site and it is quite attractive and informative. I look forward to returning.
Thank you so much for these kind words – I really appreciate this note! I’m never sure if it’s easy for folks to navigate through or… I’m so glad this showcase today introduced me to so many bloggers I wasn’t familiar with previously.
Hi Christy! I think I may have “nixed” a “friend request” from you on FB a week or so ago, not realizing then who you were. My girls, hubby, and I have had some rough moments over the last several weeks, so my head is a bit cloudy still.
I’m currently enrolled in the Animal Behavior College’s Veterinary Assistant course. My main motivation is to learn more about my dogs’ health so I can be a better dog mom. My inspiration was my fur-angel, Callie, who succumbed to lymphoma last August. She continues to inspire me every day.
Thank you for your nice note! I’m so sorry you’ve had a rough few weeks – it’s really tough to navigate through everything when “life happens”. So cool you’re enrolled in a Vet Assistant Course. I also went back to school a few years ago and for my CVT license — it has helped me in more ways then I can say here! I worked as a CVT for about a year and then went back to full time PR/writing. I’m inspiration was also my dog that passed away from lymphoma years ago. Sounds like we’re super like minded. Thank you so much for this note. Hope things are looking sunnier for you.
I’m aver tech too for over 25 years. Nice to meet you.
So nice to meet you! I’m no longer practicing – I went back to school as an adult and spent three years getting certified and practiced for about a year then went back to PR and writing full time again. I cherish every moment I was studying and learning – an amazing experience! Are you practicing?
I am, I have been at the clinic for 14 years part time. I just love it! Wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t a tech. Plus it helps with my breeding of my chesapeakes and having 5 of them.
That’s awesome! 14 years! Your dogs are beautiful – I love having the knowledge base even though I don’t practice and I cannot imagine having the basic skill set with my three dogs. I totally get it. It’s really nice to meet you!
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There is plenty of great dog information on this site ! thank you.
cool looking dogs too. 🙂
Thank you so much! Let me know what you want to learn about!
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Hi, I like your site and blog posts a lot. Nice pictures and good information. I definitely will be back to check out more. I have been looking for good dog sites. Well done!
A great deal of dog information can be found here! I appreciate your help.
I like the look of the dogs too.
Thank you for the information. Our dog who is 13 has the disease. He has a double thing against him. A torn ACL which we could not do surgery on. He still has the titled head and balance is better and is on the nausea medicine. His appetite is picky. I do boil ground with rice and started putting carrots in with and eats the carrots but I think he is getting sick of the ground round. S o question the ground turkey do you boil in water and cook on stove and do you mix with anything else? Thank you
Thank you for writing! I’m so sorry your dog has vestibular. Is he on cerenia? Yes, I boil but will also cook the turkey – so whatever he thinks is more palatable. If the boiling is getting old, I’d cook it up on the stove and then serve with rice. Bland diets are also great and you can substitute the rice with sweet potatoes if you think that’ll help get him to eat. My guy is really picky so I don’t add in anything else – but he recovered from vestibular after about a month and now we’re just eating a variety of things as he was unfortunately diagnosed with renal failure… Hope this helps!
Hi there! My dog was recently diagnosed with IBD after figuring out his previous diagnosis of Addison’s disease was determined wrong. I saw your post about raw feeding for IBD, but that you slightly cook it. Do you cook it completely or just on the outside? I’m probably over thinking this lol.
Hi! Thank you so much for your note. I’m so sorry your dog was diagnosed with IBD – honestly, the post was written a while ago and while at the time our dogs were eating raw (lightly cooked) they are now on a hi-fiber diet mixed with a fresh food diet.
Raw didn’t work long term. We now feed Royal Canine hi-fiber mixed with a variety of toppers. We use green juju and then a meal I cook for our senior as he is in renal failure. For raw, we did lightly cook it – and fed it that way for years. I hope that helps! Thank you for reaching out.