Two Tales to Warm Your Heart

This morning's email brought a link to a wonderful story - a story of a life saved and a love found.

It reminded me of the very first "rescue" I took part in before our local rescue even came into existence. Not because the circumstances were the same, but because of the pup involved.

I was a real estate broker and one of my agents had gotten acquainted with an agent from a neighboring town - and it had someone come out that she was a dog lover.

One day he called to tell her that he managed a rental in a nearby town and had gone there today to check the house after the tenants left... and there was a dog tied to the tree in the back yard. Did she want to do something about it?

She told me what was going on and we set out to rescue the dog. By some lucky chance, my big "dog cage" was in the back of my pickup, but we had no blanket.

We arrived at this house to find the most miserable looking, filthy dog you can imagine. The tree he was tied to was surrounded with dust, so of course he was covered with dust. The agent had given him water but he was hungry on top of being filthy.

We couldn't decide what kind of dog this was - he had long, curly blonde hair. Could he be a standard poodle? No, must just be a mixed breed of some kind.

There was a shed filled with clothes the tenants didn't take, so we grabbed whatever looked clean enough for a filthy dog and put it in the crate for a bed, then loaded him up. I have to say that neither of us really wanted to touch him - he was that dirty! But he was friendly and cooperative - glad to have some attention, I suppose.

On the way back to our office my friend called a dog groomer friend who said to bring him right in. She'd donate to the cause. So, we fed him, then took him to the groomer.

Imagine our shock when we went after him a few hours later and found what appeared to be a purebred Cocker Spaniel!

We had him in the office and our secretary asked if she could take him along when she went to pick up her son from day care. Of course we said yes, since we still had no idea what we were going to do with him.

Well, that was that. The day care lady took one look at him and asked if she could have him. She had wanted a golden Cocker as long as she could remember. That night he slept with her son, and they've been fast friends ever since.

That story had a happy ending, as so does this one.

Thank you Carolyne, for sharing your story.

And... Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Marte

Is Your Dog Food Safe - or Deadly?

More and more we're hearing about the disgusting things that some manufacturers are putting into dog food.

Last week I read that some even use the bodies of dogs and cats who have been put down in shelters. The poison used to kill them does NOT cook out in processing, so it goes into the food - and into our pet's tummies. The whole thing is way beyond awful.

But, even without poison and pets in the food, many dog foods contain other ingredients that aren't exactly health food. For instance, the first (primary) ingredient in Iams is corn. Dogs need meat, not corn. Plus, corn is known to produce allergies in many pets. Not only that, it contains "by products." By products can be just about anything (like other dogs and cats, intestines, feces, etc.) and are probably not something you'd eat if you knew about it.

But hey! The veterinarians sell it, so it must be good, right? No - not good. Just expensive and profitable.

So, I decided to read all the labels in town and find something with no by products.(It's a small town - one grocery store and one feed store that sell pet food.) That led me to Nutro. It was the only one I found without by-products.

But, in reading the analysis now, I see that it isn't so good either. Just expensive.

I had already stopped buying canned dog food, opting instead to create the soft portion of their diet from meat and vegetable scraps from our own human food. They love it and I know they're not getting any by-products.

So now, I guess my only option is to head to the "big city" and find a store that sells good food. Or maybe to buy on line. According to the pet forums, there are several brands for sale that are actually nutritious food for our dogs. Solid Gold, Eagle Pack, Merrick, Blue Buffalo, Mulligan, and Fromm are a few that were mentioned.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to see an analysis of the brand you're now feeding, go to http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/information.html

They have about 1,500 brands analyzed there, and I found other pages on the site to be equally interesting.

Thanksgiving Dog Safety

Thanksgiving can be a lot of fun for humans, but for dogs who are used to their own routine, it can be an upsetting time. They may either have a lot of extra people around or they get left alone, or in a kennel, while their family goes off to celebrate somewhere else.

Your dog may love the extra people and the attention - but if he doesn't, you might want to have a bottle of Feel5ive on hand to help him stay calm and collected. It's the combination of Bach Flower essences that helps both humans and pets through stressful situations. (If you're the host or hostess, you may want to take some yourself!)

Meanwhile, there are other dangers. This article from Dogster outlines some of them, but missed one important one.

If you happen to live where going out the front door is dangerous for dogs, and if your dog becomes upset by strangers coming and going, there's a real danger of him getting outside in the confusion. I know of more than one tragic loss that happened during holiday confusion, and it can sure put an end to the festivities.

Instead of taking chances, why not leave Spot in a bedroom, or even in his kennel, until everyone is in and settled? (And by the way, the same goes for your cats.)

Oh - one more thing. Please protect your dogs from kids (and some adults) who want to grab and pull and tease. It really is a form of torture for them.

Help for My Fat Pepper Dog

Lately I've been concerned that my dog Pepper is getting TOO FAT!

It occurred to me that maybe he isn't using his food properly, because I keep feeding him less and less, but it isn't working.

So... I made a visit to VetIonx. They're the company that makes the joint support supplement that saved my dog Ralph from being a cripple for the rest of his life, so I trust them.

Their products are all natural - vitamins and minerals to support a healthy body.

I read all about their Healthy Blood Sugar product and found that if it doesn't help, it sure won't hurt. In fact, I decided to order enough to give all 3 of my kids a dose each day.

If you have similar concerns about your pets, click the banner below and read about it. Meanwhile, I'll report back as soon as Pepper has been on it for a few weeks.

Freckles, the Computer Pup!

This week my neighbor finally signed up for satellite service so he could go on line and look at all the cool pieces and parts he can buy for his various projects... and he found out very quickly that if he wants to get much done, he should leave Freckles in the other room.

This is a pup who loves to chase bugs... flies, bees, beetles - any bugs will do.

And guess what a computer cursor looks like moving across the screen? A fly!

Luckily, she wears a harness, so that I had good places to grab and hang on while my showing my neighbor how to do some things on the web. Otherwise, she'd have been tearing holes in the monitor to get at that darned fly.

Next time I stop by I'm taking my camera!