Wedding Season!

Spring is here and it is the time when the wedding season begins. Weddings are designed to what the bride and groom envision for that special day. Many dog owners feel as if their dogs are part of the family.

One wedding planner had dogs in about 60% of the weddings she had planned. With the right amount of planning, you can make the day special by including your pet in the nuptials.

There are a few things one should keep in mind if you're going to use your pet in your big day:

1. You want your dog to be comfortable in a social setting. Some dogs are very outgoing but others are really shy or possessive of their owners. It's important to have your dog acclimated to being around a group of people before the big day.

2. Designate a person you trust to help take care of the dog. It's your day and the last thing on your mind should be what's happening with your dog. There are actually people who can be hired for this purpose if you don't have anyone close to you who feels comfortable with this duty.

3. Know what role your dog is going to play in the ceremony. Some weddings may have the dog just for pictures and others will have the dog as a bridesmaid or groomsman.

4. Make sure you get married in a place where they allow pets. Many places are afraid of dogs leaving behind "gifts" and will not allow it even if it is your special day. A great way not to worry about this is to have an outdoor wedding.

5. Make sure you the dog is walked before the ceremony. Dogs love people and all the activity will make them really excited.

6. If you have friends or family that have serious allergies, you have to find a way to work your dog's involvement around that fact. There is nothing worse than that having an allergy attack when it didn't have to happen. Let them know ahead of time that your dog will be involved and that they are not going to be affected by your dog's inclusion in the wedding.

I have yet to be married. Having my dogs in my wedding would be my first choice but everything in a relationship is a compromise so who knows if that will happen when that day comes for me. So I present the question to you guys. Have any of you had your dog as part of your wedding? Please leave a comment and let me know. Have a great night.

Dogs in the News-An Alarming Trend (Warning: sensitive readers may want to skip this.)

The following post is not for the faint of heart. As you know, in the past I've written about the topic of dogfighting. Today, I learned about a different type of dog fighting. It occurs in England. Young kids who are in street gangs are using dogs as weapons in street fighting. They are looked at as status symbols and the number is rapidly growing. In 2004 there were 28 dogs for dog fighting and in 2008 there were 284 were used for dog fighting. Of those 284 dogs, 188 were used for street fighting. In four years that's an increase of 1014%.


How alarming is this trend? There is a three-part documentary that recently aired called "My Weapon is a dog". Even worse is a 22-year-old woman whose two year old bull terrier
Hugo was kidnapped today. You can see the story in it's entirety here.

I only hope that this is a trend that reverses itself. It's not going to happen overnight, but maybe the more people out there who love dogs know about this, there can be something good to come out of the knowledge to eventually stop it. Thanks for stopping in.

Toxic Foods for Dogs

There are some times that dogs just find their way into some food that's left out or they'll sneak something when we're not looking. Some of these things are perfectly fine, but others will guarantee a quick trip to the vet.

Here is a list of foods that you should have your dog avoid at all costs:

• Chocolate. It contains caffeine, theobromine, or theophylline, which can be toxic and affect the heart and nervous systems. My dog Blackie, an overweight Lab mix, once ate at least 15 of those mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups. We were so scared that he would get sick, but luckily, nothing happened. I guess since it had a fair amount of peanut butter, it helped counteract the chocolate toxicity.



• Grapes and Raisins. Contain an unknown toxin, which can damage the kidneys. One or two are ok but even as little as 1/3 of an ounce can cause irreparable damage.



• Macademia Nuts. Contain an unknown toxin, which can affect the digestive and nervous systems and muscle.
  


• Mushrooms. The kind of toxin in mushrooms vary with species. Some cause effects including hallucinations, hyperactivity, and coma. Others damage the liver, heart, or kidneys causing death. Clinical signs usually occur within 6-8 hours following ingestion. Mushrooms grow in the wild in most areas, and pets need to be closely supervised to prevent ingestion, if access to the mushrooms cannot be prevented.



• Onions and Garlic. In dogs and cats, garlic and onion can cause Heinz body anemia, resulting in a breakdown of the red blood cells and anemia. Of the two, garlic is the lesser of the two evils. Still, you really have to watch out for these. The worst case scenario is having your dog go through a blood transfusion. There is no specific treatment for this aside from giving activated charcoal to the afflicted animal.
  



• Sugarless Gum. Even though gum isn't really food, it is something chewed by humans. If your dog winds up chewing it, depending on the size and how many pieces it gets into, the principal ingredient Sorbitol can cause liver failure if not treated in time.



• Baby Food. This contains onion powder and should be kept away from dogs at all times.

This is just a basic list. If you find your dog has consumed any of these items, the best thing to do is call your vet. Some cases you may be able to wait out. A larger breed such as a Golden Retriever is going to have a different reaction than a breed the size of a Bichon Frise. Still, it can't hurt to error on the side of caution. Nowadays, there are many emergency vets that work overnight in case you can't wait until the morning.

As always, have a great night. If you have any thoughts or situations you'd like to share, please feel free to leave a comment.

Dogs in the News: Two Girls Save Dog

This story really grabbed me today when I was visiting twitter. I'm attaching the link to the written story since the video isn't the best quality. I hope you enjoy this.

Twitter Helps Two College Roommates Save Dog



Also, I have a poll in the right widget section. Hope you all have a great night.

The Benefits of Walking Your Dog-Part II

Previously, I had written about the benefits of dog walking in this post. After taking them on a long walk (45 minutes), I thought of additional benefits that I had not realized.

Here are some more reasons it's great to walk your dog:

1. Walking makes your dogs less irritable. Dogs are cooped up in a house or yard all day. Walking is an adventure for them and is a natural instinct for dogs. Dogs love to explore and they never know where they are going to end up on a walk. Only you do.
2. By letting dogs sniff the ground during the walk, they pick up all the scents of the neighborhood. Their sense of smell is so distinct, they remember exactly where they are because of these smells and it helps them find their way home.
3. They sleep better and so do you.
4. Walking is a low-impact exercise. It's great for increasing joint mobility and blood circulation.
5. It helps stave away heart disease. I had found this comment from Steve Freed, R.Ph., CDE of diabetesincontrol.com to be very insightful:

   For our newsletter www.diabetesincontrol.com we did a study with 5 patients with diabetes who would not exercise.
   We called their vets and had them tell the patient that they had to walk their dog 40 minutes twice a day to prevent heart disease and all 5 patients did for their pets what they would not do for themselves.

Weather.com has a great tool that helps you calculate how many calories you can burn on a walk. Check it out here!

I also found the neatest gadget to make walks more inviting. As you know, human pedometers have been around for quite some time, and now someone came up with this brilliant creation.
Pedometers Australia carries a pedometer made specifically for dogs. It slips onto their collar and measures the number of steps you take. It measures the steps they take and it can be used even when you're just playing a game of fetch.

With summer just around the corner, if you've been hesitant to get on the bandwagon, now is the time. As always, feel free to share your thoughts. I hope you all have a great night.

The Benefits of Walking Your Dog, Part I

Premier Collars

I first heard about Premier collars when I was taking dog obedience this year. My instructor was very enthusiastic about this as a training tool. It was fascinating to me because finally there was a collar that was different for restraining dogs. I never liked the choke collars, and was squeamish around pinch collars, I was very impressed by how this works. The control is incredible, and is fabric, so it's not going to be as abrasive as metal.

These are ideal if you have very strong dogs, big dogs or dogs that tend to slip out of their collars, like Greyhounds. When you are using the Premier collar, it works bye gently squeezing to let the dog know to slow down. It falls just below the ears, so there is no less hair worn away at the neck. It fits dogs of any size from the tiniest Chihuahua to the largest Mastiff.

You can find more about this incredible product at: http://www.premier.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/collars/other#premiercollars

If any of you have had experience with this product, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for stopping in! Have a good night!

Video of The Week-Singing Dog

This is a video of a dog named Elvis singing to the ukelele. I like the simplicity of it and it is not one of those videos where the dog's mouth looks like it's singing but what you're getting an edited video. I'd love to hear what you think. Enjoy!

K-9 cops

Dogs have been working in the law enforcement world since the 18th century. They were originally trained in Europe as guards to protect territory in Europe. As time went by, they were used in the wars such as World War II and slowly made their way to England and America.

Today, most police departments have at least one police dog as its member. The average cost of acquiring a police dog is around $8,500. Many of these police dogs originate from Europe, since they put their dogs through much stricter breeding standards. If a dog doesn't past their tests, they will not breed that dog. A police dog has to have a combination of athleticism, concentration, strength and aggressiveness. Police dogs are usually not neutered to keep their aggressive nature at its peak. However, they undergo a strict training regimen that includes obedience, agility and scent tracking. It is with this training that their aggressiveness is kept in check.

Police dogs are mainly used for drug detection, bomb detection and in some cases as a partner. Dogs have over a million olfactory spores in their nose where humans barely have 100,000. Their sense of smell is so distinct, they can easily filter out the smell of drugs from something that masks it such as perfume.

The most common breeds of dog are German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever and Belgian Malinois. Police dogs last on the job on average about 6 years. To partner with a police dog, it is a privilege for the human. Only the officers with the highest accommodations within the department are selected. Working with a police dog is not something that lasts a couple of weeks or months but rather is a commitment for that dog's life.

Dogs are taught to find certain scents as their reward.They can also detect a criminal running from the scene from the trail they leave on the ground as well as the scent they leave behind in the air. There are different ways the dog tracks the scent and alerts their fellow officers. The most common is by barking. Some have taught to touch the item they've found wiwth their paw, but in the case of bomb-sniffing dogs, they have to use a more subtle method such as barking. Other times the mere presence of a police dog is enough to stop a criminal in their tracks.

All in all, police officers have a bond of closeness that is beyond compare. This is even moreso with officer and police dogs. Many k-9 cops have unselfishly devoted their time and in some cases their lives, to make the world a safer place. They deserve to be commended. A great site to learn more about these amazing animals is Policek9.com. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for stopping in.

Dog Fonts

Hi All,

I've really appreciated all of you coming to visit my site. I have always been a fan of different fonts for the computer. There is a type called dingbats. If you make the size really big you can basically have a drawing of a dog or you can use different images of the dingbats in a collage. Anyhow, here are a couple of links if you would like to download any dog fonts. They are completely free for any purpose and are designed by Graham Meade of Gem Fonts. Personally, I love the detail in these. You will find the links below. I'd love to hear what you think. Have a great weekend.

Dogg Art

Doggon Dingbat Font

Get Summer Started

Hi All!

Here is a video that makes me think of summer. Surfing is something I've always wanted to try but being in the Midwest, I've never gotten around to learning. Have a great weekend all!