New Blogging Place

I’ve decided to move our blogging to it’s own place 🙂

http://bloggingpaws.com

Feel free to visit and join in our discussions. We’re also looking for guest bloggers!  If you’ve got a funny story or some experience you’d like to share let us know 🙂

Potential Risk in Peanut Butter

I was browsing one of the forums I frequent on facebook (Dog Breeders Education Network) and came across this shared article: Xylitol now found in certain peanut and nut butters

We like to fix peanut butter flavored treats for our dogs and I know some people give meds in peanut butter etc.  This is to just give a heads up about potential dangers in certain peanut butters.

Happy Holidays

First, I’d like to say Happy Holidays & Seasons Greetings to anyone and everyone celebrating anything this time of year!

As the air fills with the scent of fresh cut pine, apple cider and cheer our pets need to be remembered, make the holidays safe for our critters.  This is probably especially important since with the wintery weather they are spending more time inside where it’s toasty, they could get up to more mischief than usual.

The beautiful Christmas flower, the Poinsettia, is considered mildly toxic to irritating.  If ingested, can cause nausea of vomiting.  If the milky white sap comes in contact with skin, it can cause itching, redness and swelling.  According to http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/ there is no treatment necessary.

Another common traditional holiday plant is the Mistletoe, often hung in doorways for stealing kisses, even stealing from the furry family members.   It is considered mild to moderately toxic.

There are 2 different types of this yuletide plant, the American variety (Phoradendron serotinum) and the European variety (Viscum album).  The American variety is less toxic.   Signs of toxicity may be gastrointestinal irritation such as drooling, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.  When ingested in large quantities other signs will include abnormal heart rate, collapse, low blood pressure, uncoordinated walking (ataxia), seizures and death have been reported.

To be safe, keep the mistletoe out of reach of pets, or better yet – opt for a plastic look alike.
If ingestion is suspected, contact a veterinarian immediately.

The holiday season wouldn’t be complete with out Holly and berries.  This common Christmas plant is considered mild to moderate toxicity.   When ingested, English holly, also known as Christmas holly, can result in severe gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting or diarrhea.  The spines on the leaves will also cause a pet to smack their lips, drool, and shake their head from injury.  The other species of holly, Japanese & Chinese, are similarly toxic and will display similar side effects.

If ingested, it’s best to contact your veterinarian for further instruction.

If your family is one of the millions of households who choose to bring a live conifer, Christmas trees, inside for the season, be aware that the oils from the tree can cause irritation to the mouth and stomach.  Common signs are excessive drooling and vomiting.  The needles of the tree are also not easily passed or digested, they can cause irritation of the gut, vomiting, and even obstruction or puncture.  Normally pets won’t eat the tree though.

The Amaryllis is also a popular holiday plant often given as a gift this time of year.  It is a member of the lily family and is considered very toxic to cats.  Severe symptoms of toxin can include cardiac arrhythmia, kidney failure, convulsions and even death.

Narcissus, and other members of the daffodil family are also given as gifts.  These flowers are poisonous to both dogs and cats, especially the bulbs.

Keep your pets in mind this season & stay safe!

Happy Holidays!

Recipe: Sweet Potato Chips

My family always has sweet potatoes in the house so this is an easy fix.

Slice up a sweet potato thinly and place on a baking sheet, cook at 250 for 1.5 hours, turn and cook for another hour. Let them cool & store uncovered. Done!

Recipe: Homemade Jerky

If you’ve been watching the recalls and such on Jerky Dog treats and you feed them, it’s time to invest in a dehydrator. We have one and the dogs LOVE it! I love it too, of course. Not only can I make human treats but I can dehydrate anything for the dogs like fish, venison, beef, chicken, turkey, sweet potatoes etc. Very simple, no seasoning or getting messy apart from the cutting up process.

There’s no reason not to and healthier in the long run as well!

USDA/APHIS Law :(

As November draws closer, the days grow shorter of the time of a free America, when purebred dogs were appreciated and being a breeder of such was something to be proud of.

We are still very proud of what we’ve accomplished with our short time raising and showing Rat Terriers, we may just have to tweak the way we place puppies.

This little article gives a little bit about the proposed rule changes:

http://time4dogs.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-isda-wants-you.html

I’ll also hunt down the other documents so everyone who loves dogs, shelter pets or bred pets, can be informed because it will affect everyone who lays hands on a pet of any type.

Recipe: Dried Liver Treats

I found this recipe on one of the sites I frequent for family recipes and thought I’d give it a go since I’m over run with beef liver from our last beef.

Recipe: P-nut butter Pup Pops

If it’s hot in your area and your pooch is looking overheated, this is a great little treat for them.  Also, it’s much healthier than the stuff you can buy from your store’s freezer isle for dogs.

Frozen P-nut butter Pup Pops (for dogs of course)

Ingredients:

16 ounces vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (low sugar)

Instructions:

Put the peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat until melted. Watch it carefully because it melts fast! Mix the peanut butter with the yogurt. Pour the mixture into whatever containers you want to use. You can freeze the pops in an ice cube tray or in little yogurt cups.

Nimh Dog Review:
Our guys LOVED these things!  They didnt last long.  We did ours in a muffin tin and made perfect portions for our crew.

Home Remedy – Dog Smell

So, if you read my last post on Vinegar and it’s magic work on doggie ears, you’ll learn real quick that I LOVE VINEGAR.  For many reasons…

Today I’ve chosen to share another Vinegar secret.  If your house reeks of dog or your still in the potty training stages and have occasional accidents this is going to be your secret weapon.  It’s a commonly known fact that anything of the fabric nature that your dog touches; your dog will leave behind a distinct odor, especially if that area is frequented by your canine.  Did you know white vinegar can remove smells from doggie laundry, smells such as urine and the general doggie smell?

When doing your dog’s laundry or general washing of things the dog is normally in contact with, it’s recommended to wash it all in HOT, soapy water, this will kill any residual flea life.  I also add a good dose of white vinegar.  This kills any smells left behind by your pooch (or cigarette smoke, fast food etc.).

White vinegar is also a replacement for those commercial ‘odor eliminators’ such as Nature’s Miracle, and has been reported to work even better as well.  Win-Win!  If you’ve got carpets and have an accident, saturate with white vinegar, let dry.  Then you can gently scrub with a damp scrub brush, no soap needed, and forget it.  The best part is probably the drastic price difference!  Nature’s Miracle is one of the cheaper brands I believe, and it still runs $25+ a gallon, while white vinegar is a couple bucks a gallon and has MULTIPLE uses!  I’ve barely scratched the surface of its positive-ness.

White Vinegar is a house hold staple in my home, it needs to be yours too!

Home Remedy – Ear Mites

Being mommy to a, now elderly, Golden Retriever I’ve learned a lot with him.  I got Diefenbaker when he was 6 weeks old and I was 13, I didn’t know near what I know now.  Temperament wise he’s the best dog to ask for, I got lucky since I got him so young — which was actually illegal in our state but didn’t know at the time, but health wise, he’s my most expensive dog.

My poor doofus has been struggling with constant ear infections, allergies etc so in an effort to decrease medical bills and introduction of so much antibiotics, steroids etc I’ve been researching home remedies.  I’d like to share one I recently passed on to a friend for use on her cats, hoping others can find it helpful.

A lot of the breeds with floppy ears and long hair get ear issues due to the environment created within the ear canal, a perfect breeding ground for mites etc.  Cats are also very suseptibal to ear mites and thus can pass them to their doggie house mates.

For the treatment of ear mites and a great general ear cleaning solution
(White) Vinegar and Water, 50% water/50% white vinegar

Clean and massage with the solution until no more icky stuff comes out and then fill the canal with it and let the pet shake it out.  For ear mites, do at least once a day if not twice a day. As a general cleaning, maybe once a week for less prone/problem pets.

Remember to not go deep in the ear canal with Q-tips as this could push the infection or debree further in causing more harm than good.

The diluted vinegar helps to create a less inhabital enviroment for the mites and micoscopic creepy-crawlies.

I’ll try to post things like this more regularly, I feel it can be very beneficial since I am not one to like all the chemicals we are around today.

Disclaimer: Do not start any at home remedies without consulting your veterinarian first.