Special Needs Pet: Safety

If you are like us, we worry quite a bit about the safety of our pets with special needs and considerations.  Their conditions often bring their status in the family to one of an additional child – don’t they?

·         Dedicated time and special obedience lessons for the deaf or the blind; 

·         Medications and learning how, daily, they can be successfully administered;

·         Costly prescription foods and treats;

·         Vet visits and testing;

·         Insurance issues;

·         Learning and applying unique socialization skills.

 The list is endless.  But yet, the purpose of our efforts is pet well-being and safety.  We wish for a good life for our companions, regardless of limitations.   They deserve it. 

A Vet acquaintance of mine once told me that in her years of veterinary practice she has learned many things about our pets who are not “perfect”.  To her, it appears to be evident that what may be missing, whether it is eyesight, or hearing or other ailments, these pets most often make up for their health shortfalls with vibrant personalities.  These pets are often the most dynamic heart-throbs!   She stated that their dedication and love for their families are often unsurpassed.

So how do we, as pet owners, repay them for all of this personality and love?
-- By safeguarding their wellness and safety.

This is the driver behind the development of the high visibility  SHONVest™ for pets who travel and/or have special needs.   When setting out to develop our thoughts about the vest, we asked simple questions --  Like – “How can we better maintain safety for our pets with special considerations?”  And -- “How can we assist the owners of special needs pets with their stressors?” 

When designing the vest, our thoughts were aimed on one fundamental query for all pet owners. 
If any pet were ever unexpectedly removed from your immediate care, who would ever know what the immediate needs are of your companion?  Think of these scenarios or others similar:

·         While on vacation, who would be able to distinguish that a pet is separated from his family upon immediate sight, or if the animal might belong to a local?

·         We live in Florida.   And hundreds of thousands of homes are storm targets every hurricane season.  If a storm breached the integrity of your home and your pet took flight in fear, who would know that he was a diabetic or had seizures and needed medicine?

·         Walking a deaf or blind dog on a busy street is often stressful for owners, for fear that someone may walk into your pet, harming them.

·         When traveling across town, if your pet escaped the car to give another animal a chase, how would anyone know that they had a special diet to maintain -- or they would suffer severe medical problems, such as pancreatitis.

Logically,  there are hundreds of scenarios that could come to mind depicting an unexpected owner/pet disconnect.   And half of those could surely be aided by high visibility marking of your pet.

The folks at SHONGear® have been assigned 5 US patents for designs that assist in maintaining the safety and wellbeing of your pet with special concerns.  Two more are in Patent Pending status.  And each vest is designed to help owners keep their pets safe.  By utilizing high visibility neon colors and words, others are alerted quickly that the pet is in need of assistance.   Pets carry their medications and their “story” (pertinent information) with them at all times.  Be it an hour or a couple days, you can help others quickly understand how to care for your pet in the interim time, until you are re-united.

Here is a list of the SHONVests™ that are available at www.shongear.com  --
Blind Pet, Deaf Pet, Diabetes Pet, Seizure Pet, Special Needs Pet and Traveling Pet  

There is at least one type that fits most needs.  And SHONGear will even create custom gear designed for your vest-able pet, if your needs are unique.  (Small pets such as hamsters and ferrets are not vest-able – but horses are!) 

Stop by our web store or Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/SHONGearDesigns . 
Our message is  simple and heart- to-heart. 
Keep your pet safe.

Visually Impaired or Blind Dog Safety

What a wonderful feeling to be able to relax as you stroll with your blind canine companion through the local farmers market on a crisp Sunday morning. 

Walking through a populated city street, and not worrying that others will  mistakenly walk into your dog is quite simply not a true reality, when we have a blind or visually impaired pup in tow.
 
People who own pets with vision disorders are most concerned with their pet's well-being and contentment.  And socialization is a very important part of assuring that your disabled pet has as much of a "normal" experience with life as possible. 

We want our dogs to enjoy being dogs. We spend much devotion making their lifelong experience a satisfying one.  Special command training is often in the cards for our blind canine pups.  But commands can not make others aware that your pet can not see.

Folks mistakenly walking into my blind pet used to happen time and time again.  When we walked our blind pup at a pet social or through downtown streets, I found myself consistently calling ahead of me "Blind Dog" ... "Blind Dog".

Our dog loved interacting with the outside wold, experiencing the many sounds and scents of other people and other dogs.  But it was always a stressful time for me, as I spent the time "on guard" for others approaching my dog.

Once we began marking our dog in neon words and colors when in public, most people took note and moved around him.   Socialization became a much less stressful event for the family.   And our dog thought he was on top of the world.

At SHONGear, we designed an alert vest that is cool and is comfortable for our blind dogs to wear.  The lightweight nylon material is perfect for both indoor or outdoor wear.  Elastic straps are made of quality elastic so that our pets are never bound into their vest, yet elastic wear and tear is minimized.  And the SHONGear signature colors of bright neon green on black, are unmistakably noticeable. The neon colors clearly distinguish them from the red letters of a human blind guide dog. 

Come by and visit our store at www.SHONGear.com or our Facebook Social Store www.facebook.com/SHONGearDesigns.  

See if we have a solution for safer socialization of your pet.  And if not, drop me a note at Jonni@SHONGear.com  We would love to hear from you. 

If you already own a SHONVest, please click on our Pinterest link and upload your dog's photo wearing his alert vest. 

Kindest Regards,
Jonni

Social Media Awakening

It is amazing how much Facebook and Twitter are bringing to this author's awareness. There are dozens of companies and organizations with a focus on the well being of disabled and special need pets -- Each with their hopes and dreams dedicated to helping our companions with issues, big and small.  They need the support and empowerment that social media brings.

Facebook is so much more than a pathway to SHONGear's social store. It is a doorway of hope for owners of special needs pets with so many options right there to assist them.   What a smile that brings to one's heart...  We are really blessed to finally be a part of that solution.

Later!
Jonni

Welcome To SHONGear!

Hello Owners of Pets with Special Considerations and Disabilities!

I want to welcome you to my BLOG!  My name is Jonni and I am the creator of the SHONVest(tm) which was originally designed out of the love that I had for my little blind Miniature Schnauzer, SHON. 

We use his name as a acronym for our designs which now stands for     Safety, Health and Other Needs.

We are so excited about launching our product line and our Web-Site SHONGear.com in the next few weeks.  It has been a long wait obtaining our patents and tradmarks, but patience has paid off. 

We are so very pleased that soon we will be able to bring some comfort and peace of mind to others, just as SHON's little vest brought to him and to me!
Gotta get back to the Web set-up!
Kind Regards,
Jonni