Bully Sticks

Non-Anesthetic Dog Teeth Cleaning

Any time you are talking about putting your dog under anesthesia you are taking a risk, especially with an older dog, however, all dogs should have their teeth inspected by a Veterinarian at lease once a year. Many animals including dogs are prone to dental problems and need to be monitored carefully for signs of periodontal disease.

An alternative to traditional methods of deep cleaning your pet’s teeth is the Non-Anesthetic method. Most Vets will recommend you avoid this non-licensed procedure. I hesitate to recommend this because there has been many reports of abuse. It is worth checking into but with caution. Watch this informative video from dog advocate, Jan Rasmusen and see what you should expect from a qualified practitioner.

Any time you are talking about putting your dog under anesthesia you are taking a risk, especially with an older dog, however, all dogs should have their teeth inspected by a Veterinarian at lease once a year. Many dogs are prone to dental problems and need to be monitored carefully for signs of periodontal disease. You can help your dog avoid periodontal disease by daily brushing and feeding all natural dog chews

Getting Rid of Skunk Smell

It’s that time of year again… The time when sleepy and cranky skunks begin invading your dog’s territory. Skunk spray can be deadly to small dogs so keep on the look out.

If you dog does get skunked you’ll need this recipe to get rid of the smell.

1 Quart Hydrogen Peroxide (3%)

1/4 cup of Baking Soda

1-2 Teaspoons of liquid Soap

It may take more than a few washings but the recipe does work

Expressing your dogs anal glans

One of the most overlooked yet necessary dog grooming steps is the expressing of the anal glans. It’s a dirty job, but someone needs to do it. Every dog has two small sacks in the anal region that contain small amounts of fluid. This fluid should be expressed on a regular basis to avoid an impaction or infection. It sounds gross but in reality it’s a quick and easy procedure that can be done in the tub before the bath. Watch this quick video for instructions on how to express your dog’s anal glans. Of course, after your pooch has suffered such an indignity they deserve a nice bully stick reward.

A perfect Top Knot for your Dog

Getting a top knot to stay in when your pooch is busy trying to get it out can be a challenge but try the double band trick shown in this quick video to finally get that top knot looking pretty and the bow staying put.

Once you have your perfect top know be sure to offer your puppy beauty queen her dog treat reward.

Toxic Flea and Tick Medications

Are you poisoning your pet unknowingly?

Can that same poison make you sick?

Green Paws has recently done a study and listed the results on their site. Many of today’s most popular flea and tick medications can actually be doing more harm than good. You, your children and your pets could all be at risk.

Most of us pet owners have been so concerned about the poison in pet food and dog treats that we have missed the big issue of poison in pet flea collars and medication. Many of these meds can cause cancer in your dog or cat and we recommend that small children and pregnant women not be exposed to these poisons.

Check out http://www.greenpaws.org for the complete list.

The tragedy of dog drying cages

Thomas Bruckner and girlfriend, Melissa Makarewicz learned too late the tragedy of their Puppy Grooming salons choice to use dog drying cages.   Their beloved pug-beagle mix, Bailey suffered heat stroke and died after be left in a drying cage for only 5 minutes at the Pampered Pooch Doggie Daycare and Spa in Hicksville, NY.

Many busy grooming salons use the drying cages as a fast way to dry a dog and in most cases there are no problems.  However, with a short snouted dog the forced heat into a closed cage can quickly become lethal.

Mr. Bruckner has started a website, BadGroomer.com in hopes of having the drying cages banned.

Most groomers want to keep the cages but require more education as to their proper use.

Hand drying a dog has many advantages over the drying cage as it requires the groomer to spend more time with each dog and can alert a groomer to potential skin problems or infection.

Many groomers will choose to use a cage with a “difficult” dog to avoid the conflict of dealing with an uncooperative pet.

Ask your groomer exactly what their policies are for drying and the use of drying cages, as well as how they deal with a “difficult” dog.  You may even want to take your dogs favorite all natural dog treat with you to the groomers as a special treat for good behavior or to get the dogs attention.

Dealing with dog allergies

It’s that time of year again… Spring has sprung.

Yep, Spring has sprung forth with massive amounts of pollen ready to irritate you and your dog.

Dogs are increasingly showing signs of allergic reactions to pollens, flea bites and even some food products.

In most cases, the first sign of your puppies allergies is the familiar scratching.  You think it’s just your basic average scratching until you notice it’s non-stop and his coat is missing patches of hair, revealing a lovely shade of pink skin.

So what’s a pet owner to do?

First off, see your Vet.  There are test that can be done to determine exactly what is causing the problem.  Allergies cannot be cured, but they can be managed.

Food allergies can be a bit trickier to detect.  You’ll need to switch you dog to a new dog food, preferably one with only one or two ingredients.  After a couple weeks on the new food, if your dog has stopped the scratching you will know it was something in the old food.  If the scratching continues, then you know the culprit is one of the ingredients in the new food.

If you do have a dog that is sensitive to food allergies, you may want to try hypoallergenic dog food and dog treats like kangaroo and emu all natural dog treats.