These reviews can be found here.
Seems a fairly comprehensive reviews of a whole host of dog foods. Many that I have never even heard of.
They go through the ingredient list, help explain what the different ingredients are and give each type of dog food a rating.
For those who feed kibble you may find it valuable.
Please share this with all the pet owners you know and ask them to do the same – the information you take a few minutes to share might prevent the senseless loss of other pets.
Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don’t have a pet, please pass this to those who do. Over the weekend, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. The dogs loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog (Calypso) decided the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn’t acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.
Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company’s web site, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.
Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by a variety of companies, and it has been shown that “It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won’t eat it.”
*Snopes site gives the following information.
Cocoa Mulch, which is sold in a variety of places including Rona, home hardware and other Garden supply stores contains a lethal ingredient called ‘Theobromine’. IT IS LETHAL TO DOGS AND CATS. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred.
Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker’s chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, axanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.
Emails of this sort are circulated every year. names/dates/company names change. BUT it is basically true that if you use cocoa mulch, be alert that some dogs will munch on it and potentially consume enough that they will have a negative reaction to it.
a solution to dog anxiety.
Thundershirt is recommended by thousands of veterinarians and trainers around the world. Whatever the situation that makes your dog anxious, fearful, reactive or over-excited, Thundershirt’s gentle, constant pressure can bring calm and focus back to your dog. A terrific solution for many types of anxiety including thunder, fireworks, separation, travel, and crate anxieties. And a terrific solution for eliminating “bad leash manners” such as barking, pulling or reactivity towards other animals and people.
One can go to the vet and get stuff to treat them there or one can medicate them at home using home remedies.
1. oil and iodine
2. iodine
both these methods call for repeat applications so you know you can kill off the mites. the oil drowns them, the iodine helps with healing.
some animals can handle having ivermectin given to them. cats, rabbits etc. just a matter of knowing the weight. If you have oral ivermection you can just drop some into the ear.
you can go to your vet and get some revolution (good for dogs, rabbits etc).
Phyllis over that the pet connection blog has written a good post on pet restraint in cars.
You might want to go check it out.
Watch the videos.
Restrain your pets when they are in the car…just like you would your children.
Bunnies like and need hay. It gives them something to munch on without getting fat, and gives them fiber to keep things moving along. Both are important for rabbits.
Given a chance though…rabbits will sit in their food to eat it. This results in a fair amount of spoilage.
Hay racks help prevent spoilage.
Here are some pages on either hay racks to purchase or that can be made.
Rabbitweb: how to make a hay rack
Guinea Pig hay rack(works for rabbits too)
ZooPlus has this idea for a hay rack
Other ideas that I have heard.
Okay…will post this for folks interested. BUT will include this cautionary note. NOTE: I am NOT an advocate of never vaccinating your dog. I do believe that dogs are over-vaccinated, and the with some breeds, waiting until the dog is older to start the whole process is better (aka the collie breeds). Rabies…ever other year max, get titers done if you can afford to do so, and once the dog hits old age for that breed…. his titers should be well-established. GET heartworm if you are heartworm prone areas. Do your research … consider this part of that. BUT don’t accept everything in this e-book as the ONLY way to do things.
FREE eBook by Pat McKay: ‘Natural Immunity – Why You Should NOT Vaccinate’ is available at the following URL…
http://www.goldcoastragdolls.com/PatMcKaysBook.htm
Natural Immunity – Why You Should NOT Vaccinate is now out of print and rather than reprinting it, author Pat McKay is giving the world a wonderful gift by making it available FREE to all the world! It is an excellent
starting point for anyone who has ever questioned the practice of vaccination.
Pat says please read this book, and pass it on to anyone and everyone – and in any format you like.
Express permission has been given for it to be freely distributed; as email attachment, copied to CD, printed out or read on line!
I was over at the Pet Connection blog and learned something new. Apparently there is a breed of cat called the Siberian Cat that can be hypoallergenic. NOTE the operative word is CAN BE hypoallergenic. In other words, for some people with cat allergies this cat breed might work for them.
Some words from Pet Connection Blog
Now, before you run off to some Internet kitty-mill site to order a Siberian from someone jumping on to the bandwagon, stop. Not all Siberians have the potential to be lower in allergy triggers and not all low-allergy Siberians will work for all allergy sufferers. You need to be careful to work with a reputable breeder who’s testing the cats for both allergy levels and the health problems (heart, in this breed) that can pop up. And you need to make sure you, personally, are not sneezing and wheezing around the breeder’s cats.
So it was neat to learn something new. 
For more on these cats:
Can be found here.
It’s a PDF file.
This booklet is intended to make you aware of the potential problems associated with various purebred dogs. If you do decide to purchase a purebred dog, it would be prudent to ask the seller if any of the relatives ever have been bothered by the conditions listed for that breed. Furthermore, you should ask the seller who will be responsible for the veterinary costs if a puppy is afflicted with a heritable disease which may not manifest itself until later in life.
I’ve have learned since I posted this that this article is a couple of years old.
It is put out by Animal Rights groups, and is therefore slanted in that direction.
It has had some of it’s research and statements disproven by breed research groups.
So take it with a grain of salt, and as a guide to asking questions of your breeder (if you choose to get a purebred dog).
Don’t know about you, but getting soaked while at an agility trial or out at some function or other isn’t my idea of a whole lot of fun so….
Here are some suggestions from agility folk…I haven’t tried them. I just do the simple dollar store plastic garbage bag with a good hat…works for me… and then I stay out of the rain as much as possible. Plus…unless it’s a cold rain…a wee bit of water isn’t gonna kill a person.
one happy customer says:
I got the Marmot precip raingear from cleanrun and so far I am VERY happy with it. It helped me get through quite a serious torrential storm that lasted a week, and just amazing how much more comfortable than any other raingear I’ve ever had. My daughter opted for a marmot made of gortex ……, and she seems happy with her stuff too. I really like all the Marmot stuff we have. The raingear I do NOT recommend is anything is anything with a DWR coating that washes off, because we have had just terrible luck with those, in spite of following all the recommended care.
