Some great doggie info and site!!
As I grudgingly got up this morning after 4 days off, I wandered into the kitchen, made myself something warm, turned on the tv and was made aware of a great new site for pets that I thought you would all like. The site is called petside.com. It has some great general pet info as well as very specific information regarding health related animal issues called “Pet Vet”. One of the really cool parts of the website is that it has an area where you can report a lost or a found pet. I haven’t seen it before and for those who have lost their dog, getting the word out in any venue is a very positive action.
For the season, they also had some great holiday tips regarding the food, decorating and outdoor dangers for dogs at this particular time of year. I know I’ve spoken at length about the foods that can be poisonous to our dogs, such as chocolate, grapes, raisins, and macadamia nuts. But even eggnog with alcohold can be dangerous to dogs. If there are empty glasses and they lick out of those glasses, alcohol poisoning can result. So keep the spirits far away from curious tongues. In terms of decorations, plants such as mistletoe and holly are poisonous, so keep those away from from your dog as well. Make sure that you pick up any fallen leaves or berries. If you choose to have a real tree and put preservatives in the water container of the tree, it is essential that your dog doesn’t drink from that reserve. The chemicals in those preservatives are extremely toxic. I was fortunate in that niether of my dogs were ever particularly intrigued by the decorations on the tree. But sometimes the ornaments, lights, tinsel and even candy canes are too much for our pooches to ignore. Again, the word is be vigilant. Make sure you watch your dog and insure that he/she isn’t getting into any type of decoration or tree trouble. They’re kind of like kids, if you haven’t seen them for a while and it is a bit too quiet you better check on them…just to be sure.
In terms of outside activities, a prior entry alerted us to certain hazards, but I found one that I hadn’t mentioned that was particularly interesting. When going for a nice winter walk with your dog, make sure if you are near any bodies of water, ponds or lakes, keep your dog on a short leash. It is very intriguing to a dog to be able to walk on something he couldn’t before. Many dogs drown or die of hypothermia because of falling through the ice that wasn’t thick enough for them.
So enjoy the season, but always keep an eye and ear open for your pup!!!
December 7th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
[...] Well, if you recall from an entry about 2 weeks back, that you can click on from here,, I spoke about the dangers of both seasonal inside and outside hazards for our dogs. One of the things I mentioned was how truly important it is to keep your dog on a short leash when you are around ponds, lakes or other bodies of water. Dogs are normally inquisitive and when a woman was taking her dog for a walk in DeWitt, New York, the dog had to find out the hard way that the ice under his feet was weak. Soon he was in extremely cold water desparately awaiting assistance. His owner, who said that the dog, who usually stays close to her, was not on a leash and saw some other dogs. The dog took off on the shortest root possible and that was over the ice. And here was the result: click here [...]