Reducing Your Dog’s Fat Intake

All Natual Low Fat Smiling Dog Bakery Treats

You may think your dog’s pudgy rolls are adorable, but a veterinarian will assert that an overweight dog is at greater risk for health problems relating to joint strain, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, cancer and canine diabetes. Controlling your dog’s weight is one of the most important things you can do as a pet owner to keep your pet happy and healthy.

Most often, a dog’s weight problems are due to poor diet and lack of exercise. Weight gain may also occur as a result of hormone issues like Cushing’s syndrome or hypothyroidism. Certain breeds like beagles, pugs, cocker spaniels and bulldogs are more genetically prone to being overweight. For most dogs though, obesity is a result of improper care.

Veterinarians generally classify dogs that weigh more than 20% above the normal weight as obese. At the ideal weight, you should be able to feel your dog’s ribs and he or she should have a clear waistline. Overweight dogs will have a belly that hangs and no visible waist. If your dog falls in the latter category it is time to make changes in his diet and routine.

A healthy diet is essential to changing and maintaining your dog’s weight. Consult with your veterinarian to determine a healthy weight and diet plan for your dog. A low-calorie regimin may be recommended that will satisfy your pup’s hunger while providing essential nutrients and vitamins.

To avoid causing an upset stomach, gradually ease your dog into his new diet. Start by including just a small amount of diet food mixed with his regular food. Add a little more diet chow each day while decreasing the amount of regular food so he has time to adjust to the changes.

Family meal time should be for the human family only. Many dogs gain weight because their table-side begging tactics work, gaining them a morsel of steak or leftover dinner scraps. If begging is a problem, keep the dog in another room while you are eating and resist the temptation to feed him from your plate.

Cut back on treats and use verbal cues or toys as an alternative reward. If you can’t resist giving treats, make them healthier by offering apple slices with a touch of peanut butter or homemade oatmeal balls.

Exercise is also important to maintaining a healthy weight. If your dog is overweight, chances are that you need more exercise too. Make exercising together part of your daily habit. Obese dogs may need to start off slowly but will eventually work up to taking long walks. A rousing game of fetch can also burn calories, build endurance and improve muscle functioning. A trip to the dog park will provide both exercise and socialization
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Dogs are Social Animals

Dogs today are not just a member of the family, but have become another tool used for social networking. Dogs use to have the job of protecting the house, hunting and keeping the kids entertained. Those days are long gone. Gone are the days of when dogs live outside in a dog house or eat scraps from the table. Dogs are pampered, and loved like children. A dog’s life is as comfortable as his owner.

Owning a dog nowadays is like a raising a child. It is common for dogs to go to school, have a sitter, have medical insurance, and attend doggie day care. No more teaching your dog to sit, roll over, and fetch without him or her receiving a diploma.

A lot of dog owners work long hours and have to leave their dog home for many hours. Owners use to get up early and walk their dog before going to work and leave food and water out for them and walk them again when they returned home. Lots of owners today live in condos and cannot keep their dogs cooped up in the house all day without them having a mishap in the condo, therefore, they hire a dog walker to come in and take the dog for a walk while they work. Some owners have resorted to putting their dogs in Doggie Day Care to alleviate the problem. It is even common to see dogs at the owner’s workplace.

When selecting a veterinarian you’re looking for more than a medical expert. You need to find someone you can speak with comfortably to address  the needs of your pet, while also finding someone your pet can warm up to.

But finding veterinarian that meets your needs, as well as your pets needs, can be a task. The best way to find one is to ask another pet owner. A friend, neighbor, dog trainer, or sitter may have some great recommendations on who they visits for their pets medical needs.

A lot of people find a vet  by word-of-mouth, especially with dogs because owners talk when they’re out walking.

Find a veterinarian as soon as you get a new pet, because it’s much better to plan ahead and have a relationship built with a vet that who knows the history of you and your animal. It’s important to establish a relationship with the veterinarian when the animal is healthy. Then if an emergency arises you know who to call and they already know your animal.

You’ll also have to choose whether you more comfortable going to a single veterinarian clinic or a practice that offers multiple doctors. While people can call and request individual doctors at a multi-doctor practice, it may not be the right fit for everyone. The benefit of a multi-doctor practice is it will allow the vet  to consult with other doctors to ensure the best solution for your pet.

If you choose a multi-doctor practice can always meet all the doctors so you know who you might be working with. If there’s an opportunity to meet the other doctors, that’s great. Good to have relationship with the entire hospital.

If one particularly doctor doesn’t work out, it doesn’t mean the entire practice is out. Maybe a different doctor on staff would work better for you and your pet.

Establishing a relationship with the rest of the clinic staff is also vital to the success in building a long-term commitment with the veterinarian. Knowing that the staff extends the friendliness and compassion to you will say a lot about the practice.

From walking in the door, you get a feel about the hospital and talk with the staff and take a tour. As a pet owner you know to get the sense that the doctor is going to do what they can to help you animal and give them the best care possible.

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Literally millions of dogs are in shelters waiting for someone to rescue them. One is bound to be the perfect

Adopting a Shelter Puppy Smiling Dog Bakery

companion for you. But, as you head to a shelter to pick your new puppy you feel some anxiety. You don’t know what you might find when you visit a shelter. Is it the old, scary dog pound that you see in movies?

The Facility
Many shelters have come a long way since the days of the dog pound. There are still a few dreary shelters, but many are warm and inviting. Two such shelters are the Dumb Friends League (DFL) in Denver, Colorado, and Operation Kindness in Carrollton, Texas.

“We strive to make this a positive and uplifting experience,” says Kim Bunker, adoptions manager of the DFL. “We want to encourage adoptions. We place comforting items, such as blankets and toys, with the dogs and puppies.” DFL has a lobby where people can meet with adoption counselors, rooms to meet with their prospective pets and even an outside courtyard so meeting with a pet can be less stressful.

Operation Kindness also has a state-of-the-art facility. “We’re lucky that we have a lovely shelter on four acres of wooded land that has a residential look, “says Jonnie England, executive director of Operation Kindness. “We have skylights, open windows, cathedral ceilings and lots of glass. We also have a screened-in cat porch. When people come to our shelter they can watch the cats play or nap.”

The Process
Adopting a new puppy is more than just walking into the shelter and walking out with a new dog. From the moment you enter the shelter to the time you walk out with a new pup, expect to spend two to four hours to complete the entire adoption process. This isn’t intended to make adoption a grueling experience, but rather to make sure that the dog you adopt is the right one for you.

Some shelters have adoption counselors available to help guide your decision-making process-even before you look at the dogs. Counselors will ask questions about your lifestyle, such as whether you work or have kids, to determine what dog or puppy is a great match for your family.

Some of the questions you might expect a counselor to ask are: Who will be the primary caretaker of the puppy? How many hours per day will the puppy be left home alone? What do you expect monthly expenses for your new puppy to be? What is the activity level of your household?

At DFL, they also ask you about your previous pets, your current pets and whether you have a fenced-in backyard. Operation Kindness asks lifestyle questions, and uses the answers to determine which puppy would best suit you and your family.

“All our questions are aimed at making a match with the right person,” England says. If its a Great Dane puppy and you’re in an apartment, its not a good match. If you like to sit and watch television all the time, an active Jack Russell Terrier isn’t right for you. You may feel like the counselors are grilling you, but it’s an attempt to learn about you so they can help you pick the right puppy.

The Puppies
When you walk into the area of the shelter where the dogs are held, you may be surprised to hear so much barking. “Barking is completely normal,” Bunker says. Dogs bark when they see new people, they bark at other dogs, it may be close to feeding time, or there may have been a dog walked through the kennel.

However, the barking can be frightening, especially for kids. “We love for kids to be here,” England says. “But barking dogs can be intimidating. If you bring your kids and they’re intimidated by all that barking, maybe one adult can wait in the lobby with the kids while the other adult checks out the dogs in the kennel.”

Likewise, if you have a particularly sensitive nose, some shelters may have a pungent odor that comes from housing many dogs in a relatively small area. This isn’t necessarily a reflection of the care taken at the shelter-some facilities may be older, and despite vigorous cleaning, its sometimes difficult to completely mask the odors. However, the animals shouldn’t look sickly or dirty, or have diarrhea, vomiting or weepy eyes.

But how do you decide what puppy is best for you? As well as assessing the puppy’s personality (is it active and outgoing, or shy and calm?), also look for one that’s healthy. The puppy should be happy and alert with clear eyes and a clean, shiny coat. It should have good muscle mass (you shouldn’t be able to see its ribs) and act like a puppy-playful and eager.

If kennel cough is going around, a puppy may have goopy eyes and runny nose, but the shelter should be treating the puppy, so be sure to ask. Kennel cough is a highly contagious upper-respiratory infection that is spread through the air, and is common wherever dogs are housed closely together.

The Paperwork
Many shelters require potential adopters to show identification and proof of residence. If you rent, the shelter wants to be sure that your landlord will allow a dog of the breed or size you plan to adopt. You’ll need to show a copy of your lease agreement or have written permission and contact information from your landlord.

When filling out the adoption paperwork, the counselors will go over the shelter’s adoption contract. At DFL, all pets are spayed or neutered before they’re adopted, regardless of age. At Operation Kindness, the age for spaying or neutering is 16 weeks and older. Younger puppies are required to be spayed or neutered by a veterinarian once they reach 16 weeks of age. Some cities have arrangements with local veterinarians who offer a discount on spaying or neutering pets adopted from the shelter.

Adopting a puppy from a shelter takes time and a little work, but the rewards of rescuing a dog in need of a loving home will provide you both with years of unconditional happiness and companionship.
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The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a motion by Councilmember Koretz that should put an end to the puppy and kitten millsby banning the commercial breeding of dogs, cats, rabbits and chicken and the sale of those animals in pet stores.

Instead animal shelters will work with licensed pet stores to make shelter animals available for adoption at those stores.

Commercial Creation Of Animals Done In Inhumane Conditions

The commercial creation of animals for sale is done in inhumane conditions, creates unhealthy animals and aids animal overpopulation, saidCouncilmember Koretz’s email.

The City Council ordered the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services to draft the law and create the adoption program. The law also creates a program to publicly and visibly identify stores that excel in meeting rigorous humane requirements and conditions, and it asks the department to arrange frequent adoption drives for shelter animals at licensed pet stores.

According to MyFoxLA.com, Koretz said he unknowingly purchased a “puppy mill” bichon 20 years ago, and it required expensive medical care.

In Shelters, 25 Percent Of Dogs And 50 Percent Of Cats Euthanized

From MyFox/LA.com:

The Department of Animal Services took in about 55,000 animals last year and expects that number to rise this year. It euthanizes about 25 percent of dogs and 50 percent of cats that wind up in shelters.

“We’re not only protecting the animals, but we’re protecting the people in the community, the people who don’t know that when they go into a pet store they are paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for an animal that is likely to be sick (or) have genetic defects,” Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette said.

Barnette said she knows there are puppy mills in the city, but not how many.

“A lot of them fly under the radar illegally. They’re very clever, and they have their little lookouts and they will move from house to house to house, and move their animals with them and stay one step ahead of law enforcement,” Barnette said.

California Leading The Way

The banning of animal mills, which seems to be where most pet stores get their animals, has been gaining traction but it appears once again that California is leading the way. Toronto is considering a similar law, and Texas has a bill going through the motions that would require more than 11 unspayed female dogs to need a license.

Congratulations, Mr. Koretz!

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Patricia Griecci Pancreatic Cancer Foundation

PlayMore Publishing Dog Books

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Patricia Griecci has written a fabulous guide to the perfect pooch party

Wheatless Tuna Biscuits – Dog Food Recipe

* 1 cup yellow cornmeal
* 1 cup oatmeal
* 1/4 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
* 1 small can tuna in oil , undrained
* 1/3 cup water

Grind oatmeal in processor to make a coarse flour. Set aside in small bowl. In food processor, blend tuna with the oil, and water then add all the rest of ingredient. Pulse until mixture forms a ball, Pulse to knead for 2-3 minutes. Knead on floured surface till it forms a soft ball of dough. Roll out to a 1/8″-1/4″ thickness. Cut into shapes. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet, at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.

No matter what you have done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it.

They all promise the same thing. “Use our online dating service and find your soul mate.”

Pampered Pooch Parties Dog Birthday Parties

Despite your reservations, the thought of spending yet another Friday night home alone, and hearing about Sally’s weekend adventures with Bob on Monday morning at the copy machine is enough to make you decide to go for it.

Lucky for you, your profile receives many hits aka “compatibles.” You carefully read through the ones that they have determined to be your “soul mate.” You decide on Mr. Right and take the plunge. Believe it or not, you two actually hit it off marvelously, all is right in your world and you can’t wait to brag to Sally about your weekend adventures.

Before you know it the time is here. It is a fate far worse and stressful than meeting their parents. Meeting their dog.

A poll on dogchannel.com asked: Would You Date Someone Who Didn’t Like Your Dog? Sure (1.39%); If I liked the person enough (7.25%); No Way (91.36%). A study by the American Kennel Club says, 8 in 10 dog owners consider their pets “family.” So, for most dog owners it seems, Mr./Ms. Right, Must Love Dogs.

For many, introducing Fido to Mr./Ms. Right is very stressful. What if they don’t like each other? Getting Fido to like your new guy/gal has much has you do can be a challenge that requires patience. However, if your guy/gal really is your soul mate, isn’t it worth it?

Petplace.com offers the following advice. The goal of all of these is help your dog associate your guy/gal with good/pleasurable things.

Neutral Field Advantage. The first meeting may produce better results if it takes place away from home. By doing this, you squash any dominance issues that may surface on your dog’s home turf. Both before and after the meeting give Fido one of his favorite treats. Do this for the first few meetings.

First Move. Let your dog make the first move. Allow the dog to approach your new guy/gal on their own. Remember patience. Sometimes it takes awhile, but the important thing is not to force it. Also, be sure that Mr./Ms. Right is calm and relaxed. Dogs can anticipate fear and are expert readers of body language, so, a tense significant other will result in a fearful Fido.

Home. Once you get the two on the home field, encourage the new boy/girlfriend to feed Fido his meal/giving him some of his treats etc. Eventually, the three of you should go on walks together. Also, encourage play time, but avoid any roughhousing, and/or games of chase that can get out of hand too easily.

Mine, not yours. Lastly, usually not a concern with Labs, but, some dogs are more aggressive and/or protective than others. Protecting, and acting aggressively to outsiders are a dogs way of “protecting the pack” (in this case, you.) This behavior is commonly seen when you and your guy/gal start getting affectionate with another. This can occur even after they have become “friends.”

Finally, if Mr./Ms. Right have a Fido of their own, it is important the introduction between these two potential “siblings” are independent of meeting “dad” or “mom.”
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No matter what you have done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it.