Pandemic Puppy: Inside Scoop on Marty Greer’s Timely New Book

Pure Dog Talk’s Veterinary Voice, Dr. Marty Greer, just released her newest book and joins host Laura Reeves to share the inside scoop, including how Laura knew about it from the beginning.

“At a time when we’re rethinking almost everything in our lives, Your Pandemic Puppy will recalibrate your concept of puppy rearing and dog ownership. Up to date, contemporaneous and thoughtful, Your Pandemic Puppy was written by a veterinarian with four decades of medical experience. In these pages, you’ll find information on all aspects of your new puppy’s physical and mental well-being, from the challenges of finding a new companion during the current COVID-19 crisis, through training and medical care.

“But more than just how-to advice, this book also explores what owning a puppy means to a family, and what to anticipate in the future, when you return to your former work and school schedule. This book is intended to help you have a great experience all along the way, from selecting your new puppy through adolescence. Having a new puppy or dog should be lots of fun: Here’s to making that your new normal.”

“Back in March or April my travel got curtailed,” Greer said “… and we were in our veterinary clinic only allowed to see sick patients, we weren’t allowed to do any routine spay-neuters or routine vaccinations… that significantly changed our flow of patient care …

“So I thought, well, you know, I’ve got a little time on my hands … I need to rewrite the puppy materials that we use in our exam rooms. So I’m gonna write a little 20 page doc to add a little booklet that we can use for our clients. It needs to be updated. Flea and tick medications are new and vaccine protocols have changed and spay and neuter information is different, so there’s been enough changes, I thought yeah it’s time to do this so I sat down and started writing it.

“And then one day I was talking to Laura and I said I have this really neat idea for a book that would be targeted at generations of dog owners because millennials own dogs differently and select dogs differently than boomers and boomers are different than Gen X are so I would like to write a book. And she said well let me get you in touch with Denise Flaim who can help you as a publisher. Well, I talk to Denise and she’s like no, no we’re going to do this as the pandemic puppy (and) it is now published.

“I’m super excited about it because it’s not only a book on how to select a dog, but how to raise a dog based on behavioral and veterinary up-to-date information. Also dealing with the COVID changes, it incorporates those as well. So it’s pretty comprehensive.

“It’s different selecting a dog right now because the rescues are wiped out. Nobody has any dogs. If the shelters had dogs, they put him into foster care. So the foster homes are full but the pets are not available at the shelter because they were trying to cut down on traffic … the Breeders cannot possibly keep up with the demand.

“Everybody that has been putting up the with their kids or their spouses. Maybe they’re a single person living by themselves … everybody has time now because their work schedules have changed. Their school schedules have changed. They’re working from home. Things are completely different. So getting a dog right now, puppy or adult dog, is really difficult because the demand has skyrocketed at a time that people weren’t prepared for that. Just finding dogs is more challenging and sourcing responsible breeders is more challenging.

“Selection is different and then socialization absolutely has changed. It’s a lot more difficult to get into a dog training class. Many of our states are restricting the number of people in a gathering, so dog training classes are out or limited. There are some options and (I) talk about those, but it’s different.

“Another concern that a lot of people who are heavily involved in the dog community are concerned about (is that) some people go back to work or school and their lifestyle changes; or their job disappears and they don’t have the income; or they get transferred across the country because now the jobs they had before isn’t happening, so they’ve got to relocate.

“We do talk about that in the book. It is a real concern because we don’t want these dogs ending up in mass numbers going into rescue, going back to shelters, or going back to breeders. So, yes, we’ve talked about that in the book as well. How you can arrange your lifestyle with someone coming into the home to help take care of dogs, if you start to go back to work and you need a middle of the day dog walker. Those are discussed in the book for some options for people to come up with for solutions. The last thing anyone in the dog community wants is for this beautiful generation of dogs to end up as a glut back in the shelters.”

From NAIA President Patti Strand:

“Your Pandemic Puppy would make a great gift or Christmas stocking stuffer for anyone planning to acquire a new puppy or dog. And while its insights and recommendations have special value for people working from home during the pandemic, this handbook would help anyone seeking guidance about how to select, raise, care for and build a life-long bond with a canine companion.”

Buy Your Pandemic Puppy here.