Natural remedies for your pets

Pharmaceuticals scare me - especially after Rimadyl killed my best friend a few years ago.

That's why I was thrilled to run across this article on herbal remedies for your dog.

The best part - they do double duty, because they're good for you too!

On my next trip to town, I'm heading for the health food store for Neem. I won't put commercial insect repellant on my dogs, so learning about a natural repellant made my day!

Those Amazing Dogs

Did you catch that Newsweek article about dogs - and how they're stealing jobs from humans? Too bad they don't get the respect they deserve for doing what we cannot do - even with sophisticated technology.

For instance, Labradors can detect certain cancers with a 98% accuracy, while technology is correct only 10% of the time.

German Shepherds can detect roadside bombs more accurately than technology - in spite of the $20 billion cost of that technology.

And of course we all know how dogs can find lost people even when they don't want to be found.

Those are the large breeds, but small breeds work hard too. Studies have found that little guys like Jack Russell terriers can sniff out bedbugs with a 95% success rate - which is 3 times better than mere sight detection. They're now being "hired" by professional exterminators.

More Dog Quotes

April is rescue a dog month - so I bring you these quotes in hopes that you'll understand that a dog is SO much more than a "dumb animal."

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too." - Samuel Butler

"All trees have bark.
All dogs bark.
Therefore, all dogs are trees.
The fallacy of barking up the wrong tree." - Unknown


"In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce, Taipei, Taiwan

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." - Ben Williams

"One reason a dog is such a lovable creature is his tail wags instead of his tongue." – Unknown

"Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog." --Sydney Jeanne Seward

"Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog;
but you're never friendless ever, if you have a dog." --Douglas Mallock

"Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend." -- Corey Ford

"There's facts about dogs, and then there's opinions about them. The dogs have the facts, and the humans have the opinions. If you want the facts about the dog, always get them straight from the dog. If you want opinions, get them from humans." -- J. Allen Boone

"A man's soul can be judged by the way he treats his dog." -- Charles Doran

Favorite Dog Quotes...

"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater. . . suggest that he wear a tail." - Fran Lebowitz

"You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!'" - Dave Barry


My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. --Unknown

"If your dog doesn't like someone you probably shouldn't either." - Unknown

"Old dogs, like old shoes, are comfortable. They might be a bit out of shape and a little worn around the edges, but they fit well." - Bonnie Wilcox 'Old Dogs, Old Friends'

"Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies." - Gene Hill

"The more people I meet the more I like my dog." - Unknown

"In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." - Edward Hoagland

Dog Training We All Can Envy

...unless, of course, you have a dog who can perform like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=P9Fyey4D5hg

Yesterday really was Friday the 13th

I've never believed in any of that nonsense about Friday the 13th or 13 being an unlucky number... until yesterday.

It all started when we volunteered to babysit our neighbor's dog - something we've done many times in the past. What was different this time was that my husband had to leave for a couple of hours, so she stayed with me at the house.

She ran from door to door, whining to follow my husband, so I gave up on working and went outside to do yard work. Since she might try to follow, I tied up on a long rope.

My mistake was in not being careful enough around a "bouncing dog" on a rope.

When I tripped I went down SO hard on that brick patio... I thought my knee was broken for sure.

It's not... but it sure hurt like he--. Still hurts today, so I'm sitting a lot.

That wasn't good enough to round out the day.

My husband came home and took her outside with him and his dog... so she had an afternoon full of running and playing - and getting into what??

After he'd gone to bed last night I was being a vegetable on the couch when she whined to go out... I never ignore a dog who says they need to go out, so I limped to the door and let her out... and got a whiff of something I really didn't want to smell.

After I cleaned up the mess in the middle of the stairs and let the dogs back in, I went back to the couch. Just to be on the safe side, I let everyone out again sometime after midnight.

But Friday the 13th decided to spill over to the 14th.

At 6 a.m. I woke to hear my husband yelling... It seems that "someone" had had multiple accidents that covered half of our living room carpet.

By 6:30 a.m. we had the spots cleaned, and later this morning we moved all the furniture and cleaned the entire carpet... it was time, so might as well do it while the machine is out and ready.

Sure glad my knee feels a little better today - and also glad my husband did all the hard work of running the shampooer!

Tumor Scare at Our House

Two weeks ago today my husband was brushing Ralph when he discovered a big lump on his bottom. We tried to tell ourselves that he had sat on a sliver or something, but that didn't make sense, because it didn't seem to hurt him at all.

So, Monday morning I called the vet... and found that I couldn't get an appointment until Thursday. The week was long, and Thursday was even longer while we waited for news that Ralph had come out of the anesthetic. After knowing of people who died from anesthetic, just the idea of it makes me nervous.

We went to get him and the vet said we'd have the lab results back on the tumor in a "couple of days." OK... so Monday maybe.

All went pretty well the first day, except for worrying because Ralph was completely lethargic. On the second day when it appeared that the pain pills were upsetting his stomach, we decided they weren't such a good idea. He was supposed to have 2 in the morning and 2 at night, but we stopped giving them to him.

I had gone on line and found the same kind of side-effects that killed our dog Harry when the vet prescribed Rimadyl and I obeyed.

That was still OK until late that night. Apparently that's how long it took for that heavy dose of pain medication to work its way out of his system.

About midnight Ralph started chewing on his stitches... not a good thing!

I finally gave him one pain pill and sat beside him, preventing him from chewing, until he fell asleep. The next day I borrowed one of those big plastic collars from my neighbor, but it turned out that one pill at about 10 or 11 at night was the right balance. Ralph stopped chewing his stitches, but wasn't lethargic and didn't have an upset tummy.

We were still worried, and wondering when we'd hear about the test results. Finally on Wednesday the vet called... a benign tumor that probably will not re-occur.

Thank God.