Why does Rocket Woman exist?
Rocket Woman exists because of a desire to help people, from all walks of life. To have the ability to change a person’s future and to help people have the future they deserve and want for themselves.
What does this have to do with Defence Community Dogs (DCD)?
Defence Community Dogs helps veterans to become the people they want to be through the training of dogs.
The dogs are also trained in prisons, helping prisoners to gain new skills and confidence. This is such a win win project. But it is entirely funded by donations.
This has many synergies with the aims of Rocket Woman. You can find out more about DCD – here.
What about the LickiMat?
COVID has changed our lives in many different ways. We are now working from home more and it seems we have taken more pets into our lives because of this. At some point however we will be home less, even if it is not the same as it was before.
What does this mean for our other household members? It means that if we don’t start now to get them used to us being around less or in a different way we may start to run into some issues around separation anxiety.
Animal Enrichment is something that you may have heard about on your visits to the Zoo. You can find out more on this topic in this short video – here.
Animal Enrichment for dogs helps your dog adjust to being alone more and encourages relaxation. Did you know the average dog needs 14-16 hours worth of sleep in every 24 hours, more if it has been doing something mentally or physically challenging?
So how can a LickiMat help? Licking promotes calmness. Dogs lick when they are stressed to help alleviate stress. You may see your dog lick its lips when it is feeling uncomfortable or you may see it start to groom itself randomly. This is the same as us becoming fidgety when we are uncomfortable.
(Did you know that dogs from DCD are trained to notice and interrupt their handlers signs of anxiety such as rubbing hands together, pacing or fidgeting. By interrupting the behaviour they make the handler more aware of it, can be a reassuring presence and remind the handler to practice their own coping strategies?)
So the LickiMat encourages your dog to take longer eating its dinner, (You just spread the food over the mat, if you use dry food, just add hot water, leave for a bit to become a paste and cool down and spread on the mat. You can also use different foods such as sardines, yoghurt or cheese), it can take a long time to get those tasty morsels out of the crevices and it promotes licking, calming your dog and helping them to be more relaxed without you there.
So how does it work?
Rocket Woman is supporting DCD by giving 100% of the profits from the sale of these LickiMats to DCD. The Minimum cost for the LickiMat and postage is $13.50, but you are welcome to pay more with 100% of the profits going to DCD. That works out at about $7 for each mat sold at $13.50.
Why is Rocket Woman doing this?
Rocket Woman is an enterprise aimed at helping people. Ruth Harrison the owner of Rocket Woman is passionate about helping people who need a helping hand. She is also passionate about supporting the defence industry, in its many forms. Defence Community Dogs helps veterans to lead a normal life, to get out and manage the traumas they are dealing with. Ruth is also a local community dog trainer and the president of Redlands Dog Obedience Club. She has seen how dogs can help people from all walks of life and is committed to helping dog owners have the best relationships with their dogs.
And the reality is because we can, so why not.
*As you are getting something for your payment this cannot be used as a tax deduction. If you would like to donate directly to DCD you can do here.
**If you do not wish to use paypal you can email me for payment details.
***Mats will be sent out using Australia Post, there may be some delays in recieving your item due to current delays in postage due to COVID.
****Postage in Australia only.
2 Comments
Roxie Orr · May 15, 2020 at 3:12 pm
Hi Ruth, I would happily buy a lickimat but am in Wellington Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a great idea though. We have a labradoodle who is definitely an anxious dog and he hadn’t been getting enough sleep in the last couple of months. He loves to chew and we give him chewy things after his dinner. Thanks, Roxie
Rocket Woman · June 16, 2020 at 3:04 pm
I think sadly postage would make it very expensive. I can highly recommend them if you can find one closer to you!
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