Horsekeeping and training, pets and art by Connie Moses
Worth repeating [discussed here before in March and April, search on recall] is the list of dog food recalls and cat food recalls from the National Pet Foundation. On their site you can sign up to receive email alerts within-the-hour of new recalls as they are announced.
Their June 6 bulletin implies that salmonella has been found in Ol’ Roy pet foods sold by Wal-Mart, and possibly acetaminophen in others.
Thanks again to Jan S.
Invisible fencing for dogs is the greatest thing since sliced bread! With it we are able to give our English Setter Peaches a huge yard area to run around in, including accompanying us to the barn when we tend the horses.
With Peaches we use a combo contain-and-train invisible fence made by Innotek. They recommend a dog is not old enough until 6 months to train to an invisible fence. With our Innotek model, settings are changeable on the collar itself– the contain mode is for everyday use of the fenced area. We can also manually use a handheld controller to reinforce other training– using warning sounds and/or pulsing corrective shock– either inside or outside of the contained yard.
Peaches plays inside her invisible-fenced yard, slip-sliding on icy snow in this video!
The invisible fencing system will come with instructions and possibly a DVD with examples. Basically, you first set up the fence. There must be visible boundaries for the dog to see, either obvious natural boundaries (hedge, treeline, other fencing etc.) or you place a line of flags in the ground to mark featurelsss boundaries. The fence emits an audible warning sound to the dog’s collar from up to 12 feet away from the fence, which changes in tonal intensity as the fence is approached, and then to a corrective pulsating vibration (shock) about 2-3 feet away from the fence. The distance range is adjustable.
To start training, put the dog on a leash and walk it around the fenceline in both directions, inside the boundary, and whenever the dog approaches the boundary you stop it with the leash and pull it back towards you sharply with a verbal NO command. You do this many times; a retractable leash could be helpful. Essentially you are establishing the boundary location in the dog’s mind and conditioning it to retreat from the boundary.
Next you put the training collar on the dog and repeat the boundary walking using the warning sound as a cue to tell the dog when to retreat from the fence (still reinforcing with the leash.) When the dog has this idea reliably, remove the leash and test the dog’s understanding of retreating from the fence at the warning signal, reinforcing verbally by calling the dog back to you if it encroaches towards the fence.
The last step is to set the collar for the corrective shock if the dog ignores the warning sound. Remember, the typical invisible fence has a warning sound which gets progressively more insistent as the collar approaches the fence, until it turns into a corrective vibrating (intermittent) shock. With Peaches it took her three shocks to learn that she dare not ignore the warning signal. She would not approach the fence after that, and she knew the limits of the boundaries. Thereafter she retreated from the fence as soon as she heard the warning signal from her collar. Final testing of the fence’s effectiveness is to cross the fence yourself and walk away from the dog; however, you should never call the dog to cross the fence.
To solve the problem of taking the dog on a walk outside the fence perimeter, we carry Peaches over the line (with her collar turned off, of course.) I have also heard of folks using a carpet remnant they place on the ground, and teach the dog it is OK to walk across the carpet and on a leash to cross the line.
When we installed our own invisible fence, we buried it only in areas where we had to, such as driveway and lawn. We had a lot of natural boundaries– stone walls, horse fences, treelines– which were protective enough to simply lay the fencewire on top of the ground. We DID have to protect it from the horses, so anywhere it’s within a pasture we either buried it at the fenceline or tied it up to the bottom fencerail. Our horses paw and dig near fencelines, especially in winter, searching for acorns and grass morsels. They seem to like nothing better than chewing up a section of dog fence wire, so we have had to patch it together in many places. We had to bury it inside a piece of rubber hose under a horse gate which they use frequently.
If we had not put up this dog fence, Peaches would most certainly be dead– most likely run over by a car or killed by a coyote. There’s no doubt that an invisible fence is less expensive (around $100-$200 self-installed) than any other kind of fencing to keep the dog at home. I have heard some people are afraid it is cruel to use shock training of any kind; I think it is crueler to let the dog be run over or be staked out on a chain or given no freedom at all. Of course some dogs are not inclined to run around or to wander like an English Setter is, but peace of mind is important to consider.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome, as always!
For those of you who have a new puppy, or plan to get one, this is a primer. First advice is, get books– and read on the internet– on the subject of raising and training dogs, with advice specific to puppies. General information will thus be found on housebreaking, obedience training, the nature of various breeds, health considerations, etc. From these resources you will learn about dog instincts and behavior, and how to read your dog’s expressions and body language so you can understand what she is saying.
There are many sizes and types of dogs and you will be most happy (and vice versa) with one who suits your personality, your lifestyle, and the living space you have available to give it!!! Seek out other dog owners through dog clubs and groups, also veterinarians; people are always happy to talk about their dogs and you can learn a ton this way.
DO YOUR RESEARCH on breeds BEFORE you look at puppies (if you want a purebred dog.) Keep in mind, mutts (term used with affection) can be terrific pets and can usually be had for free. Some purebred dog lines have become so inbred or bred for specific traits that weaknesses and even defects have been perpetuated. These problems can creep up on you later on and cause expense and heartbreak. Puppies of breeds subject to potential genetic issues can often be vetted and tested or evaluated before their purchase; the breeder should do this before selling. DO YOUR RESEARCH!
It is often advised not to purchase a puppy from a pet shop, due to the threat of inbreeding issues. Find a reputable breeder, and select from among several pups in a litter if possible. Observe how the littermates interact, how they have been raised, the personality of their mother, the attitudes of the breeder. STRONGLY CONSIDER adopting a shelter dog if you feel competent to judge dogs and to potentially do retraining (see my previous posts in Dogs for Dog Lovers category.)
Once you’ve done your breed research and narrowed down your choices of dog size and temperament, it’s time to go look at puppies! Again breed organizations can refer you to breeders, or find them in newspaper or magazine ads or bulletin boards in vet offices. You will be glad you decided in advance what breed or style of dog would suit you, because as soon you see a litter of puppies, it is extremely difficult not to walk away with one!
Prepare for the new dog before his first night in his new home; have his area(s) in the house determined, have his crate and/or doggie bed in place, his toys ready, baby gates in place if needed to keep him off carpets until he is reliably trained, his food on hand. You will feed what the breeder has been feeding at first, then gradually change to the food you choose or your vet recommends, if different.
FYI, the sellers of your dog will likely prove a wellspring of information, tips and advice. Be sure to pick their brains as to how the puppy has been started. They should also have lineage records and provide you the information needed for breed registry of your pup.
When your new pup moves in she will miss her brothers and sisters and her mom at first. Give her a comfy doggie bed– possibly inside a crate (read up on crate-training)– and provide her chew-toys, cuddly stuffed toys if you wish, and give her lots of attention. She will need company and may cry at night from loneliness; many a night has been spent by new puppy owners sleeping in the same room as the pup while they adjust.
Start her right out learning what you expect of her in her new life. Housebreaking is often started on newspapers or through crate-training. Read about various methods, then decide what is most convenient for you. You might wish to train the pup to use a designated area of the yard as his toilet (I wish we had!) Some dogs will go as far from the house as possible; our dog goes all over the place outside. The housebreaking process can be long and drawn out; be kind and patient, confine the pup to areas that are easily cleaned, keep telling yourself it’s just a baby. Just like toilet-training a child, the dog WILL learn eventually, when it is both mentally and physically able to.
Chewing is almost always a puppy challenge– like a teething baby, they explore their world by chewing. Your job is to teach her that certain things you provide are OK for her to chew on, and everything else is NOT. You must spend the time to monitor her, catch her the second she starts to chew a wrong thing, scold her gently and then substitute an appropriate item for an unacceptable one (call her first to a new location; praise her whenever you see her choose her own toy to chew.) There are tons of chew items available– doggie toys, chew biscuits, knotted ropes, rawhide strips, pigs ears– you’ll have fun learning which she likes the best! With any luck she’ll learn quickly; meantime, keep your good leather shoes or purse out of her reach!
PLAY with your puppy. That’s all he really wants to do anyway; make him happy and you’ll be rewarded with his undying love. Teach him to FETCH!! Yes, it CAN be taught; many breeds and dogs will learn it instinctively, but others can be shown how through rewarding them with puppy tidbits.
TRAIN your puppy!! I know, the word sounds boring– perhaps I should say HELP your puppy learn how to please you. That will make him happy too, almost as happy as playing! Leash train your pup, making it fun and keeping the sessions short, never painful. Classes are available for puppy and dog training and socialization. They are not just tricks or just obedience and control; the more things you teach your dog, the better becomes his understanding and acceptance of his place in your life and the world. He becomes more enjoyable to be around, safer to himself and others, and more secure and confident.
Touch your pup all over her body (first you have read the information on how to interpret her hreactions and body language.) Touch and handle her paws. Brush your puppy, for half a minute at a time, to get her used to the feel of being groomed. She will want to mouth you and chew on your hand at first, that is her way of playing and/or warning you that she’s uncomfortable; she must be gently scolded for this and your hand and attention removed from her mouth the instant it starts to happen (but do not cease handling her if that was what you were doing.) The dog should learn early that it is NEVER acceptable for her to put her teeth on a human.
Learn to be patient in all your interactions. Remember a puppy is a BABY and cannot be expected to figure out what you want overnight. Neither can you attribute human-type responses to him, he is NOT a small furry person.
Attend to his health needs by lining up a veterinarian and following his advice. Rabies shots will be required at about 6 months; others shots are advised for preventative reasons; heartworm medication is usually recommended. Many towns also require registering the dog for a small fee. Neuter your dog according to your vet’s advice at an appropriate age; you will be glad and the dog will be easier to live with.
Keep your dog safe by confining him to a safe area. Depending on his size and breeding, he will need an area to roam and to do his business. An invisible dog fence is a godsend, although not recommended usually for pups under 6 months of age, when they are able to learn the concepts and can be trained.
Socialize your puppy as early as possible, both to people and to other dogs. This may be very easy or more difficult depending on the exposure the pup had during his earliest rearing, and on whether he is sociable or shy by nature. Get him accustomed to people around him and many various situations outside of the home. Protect him from situations which make him fearful by gradually desensitizing him to such environments. Seek advice of professional dog trainers for any puzzling or difficult reactions or aggressive behavior.
Involve your dog in all your activities, make him part of your life. When you acquire a pet, they SHOULD be part of your life and YOU are the pet’s WHOLE UNIVERSE; if this sounds too tedious, perhaps you should not try to keep such a pet and consider one that requires less commitment.
It is quite possible to teach older dogs all these things, and is often done successfully. It is easier to do with a puppy which is mostly a clean slate. Your dog will provide you much enjoyment and satisfaction, and will remain a loved companion for its lifetime.
Please submit additions and your thoughts in comments below, thanks!
Excerpts from Old Dog, New Tricks by David Taylor; Understanding and Retraining Older and Rescued Dogs. This is a truly useful, concise book with pertinent tips and specific advice on a range of dog behavior issues.
Hyperactive dogs, like hyperactive children, will often calm down if given food that is free of artificial colorings, flavor, preservatives and sugars. How to test this? Do an experiment. Cut out canned food, which is usually high in protein, and dry food, which often contains lots of preservatives, and cook for your pet. Give your dog dishes such as boiled chicken, rabbit, lamb or fish mixed with boiled rice or mashed, unpeeled, boiled potatoes in the proportions of one part meat or fish to four parts rice or mash.
If, within a week or two this diet does effect a change for the better in your dog’s behaviour, go onto some form of low- but high-quality protein proprietary canned food that is claimed to be free of additives such as the ones recommended for animals with chronic kidney disease or low-protein organic ones. Alternatively, if you are prepared to continue with the home cooking, use this recipe.
HOMEMADE DOG FOOD
NOTE: All quantities are per 5 lbs. dog weight.
two-thirds cup rice
one-half cup medium-fat meat
6 teaspoons raw liver
1 teaspoon steamed bone meal
1 teaspoon corn oil
one-half teaspoon iodized salt
Boil the rice until tender and drain. Mince the meat and cook in a little water. Mix the two together, and then stir in the remaining ingredients. Feed either warm or cold.
WATER TIP
Some experts believe that it is best not to give chlorinated or fluorine-treated water to hyperactive dogs, but to provide bottled mineral water instead.
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ED.NOTE– Granted many energetic-by-nature dogs are simply needing more exercise than they are able to get; but the possibility of diet-influenced behavior is well worth considering.
Our puppy Peaches LOVES the snow and just being outside anytime, cause she gets to RUN!!! Sharing here a couple of pix of her enjoying herself in winter!
When the snow is softer and the temps are around freezing, she gets these awful snowballs stuck in the feathers on her legs and belly. It also get balled up between her toes and can be very uncomfortable for her. Fortunately we have a mud room to let her thaw out in when she first comes back into the house. I tried a hairdryer to melt them but it didn’t help much and she was quite nervous about it.
The sled dogs DID get to race this year and we got to see them! For the last two winters the races had to be cancelled due to lack of snow. We watched the open class of 12 starters, on the last day which was their third leg for 75 miles total… each day running a 25-mile sprint. (Compared to the Iditarod 25 miles is considered a sprint…)
Laconia NH Sled Dog Derby Feb, 2007, racing dog teams being hitched up video.
No. 12 starting 3rd day leg of open race, video.
The mushers have told me the dogs are usually part greyhound, perhaps part malamute or something else. (In Gilford years ago there was a team of Irish Setters that raced!) The full-bred huskies are usually only raced further north than New Hampshire, such as in Canada or Alaska, because they get too hot in our warmer climate and they are bred for endurance racing (much longer than 25 miles!) If you followed the Iditarod you know what I’m talking about. (See posts about Iditarod by searching this blog.)
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See other videos of horses, dogs, snowboarding etc., on this blog (search term= video,) or go to YouTube.com and use search term= Horsepaintings (my username.)
This is a sad but encouraging doggy tale with at least one happy ending…
Excerpted from New Tricks, New York Times Magazine, April 8, 2007. www.nytimes.comby Charles Siebert, a contributing writer who has reported frequently on animals, is at work on Humanzee, a book about humans and chimpanzees.
“Let me know when you’re ready,” Diane Mollaghan called out as I rummaged one recent winter afternoon through the costumes and props she had stored in the back room of a run-down house trailer on the grounds of the Town Lake Animal Center in Austin. Mollaghan, a 34-year-old animal-behavior researcher and graduate student in the University of Texas’s psychology department, was waiting in the trailer’s main room beside a tan-and-brown mutt that had recently been left in the shelter’s night drop-off box with no ID tags or background-information form. Estimated by the shelter’s staff members to be a “Manchester terrier mix,” it looked like a pointy-faced Chihuahua on stilts, a creature of indeterminate origin and yet-to-be-determined disposition. That, literally, was where I was to come in. All afternoon I had been helping Mollaghan conduct various trait-assessment tests on shelter recent arrivals.
[About two MILLION homeless, abandoned dogs are euthanized in this country yearly, half of the four million taken in by animal shelters. That is about 5,000 dogs daily, or one very 16 seconds. (The numbers are even higher for cats.) As many as 25 percent of these dogs are purebreds; often the reasons for their abandonment are frivolous.]
Dog mania being at an all-time peak in this country, it is difficult to say whether such profligacy with our pooches is a logical phenomenon or a wholly paradoxical one. A recent survey of the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association estimates that Americans house some 74 million dogs. And with the often factorylike production of ever more new puppies to satisfy growing consumer demand, the 5 percent of owned dogs that wind up disowned each year could be thought of as the inevitable spillage that attends all forms of mass consumption. Except, of course, for the simple, discomforting fact that the “product” in question is not only a living being but also our proverbial best friend, our most loyal and longtime animal companion.
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The animal shelter, a place long consigned to being a lost pet’s last, is fast becoming among the most likely places to find a lasting pet. A number of shelters… have broadened their scope [to include efforts to re-socialize abandoned dogs, and] have reported… improvements [in spite of the usual underfunding and sparce resources.]
At the Humane Society in Minneapolis, puppies that graduated from socialization classes were found to be far less likely to be returned after adoption. At the Town of North Hempstead Animal Shelter on Long Island, a volunteer shelter-dog training program initiated in 1999 cut the euthanasia rate by 50 percent in just six months. According to a 2006 survey of shelters in Ohio conducted by Ohio State University”s College of Veterinary Medicine, the outlook for dogs in shelters has greatly improved in the past 10 years, thanks partly to spay/neutering programs and also to a big increase in the number of shelters that have an established partnership with a veterinary practice. There has been a 16 percent decrease statewide in the number of dogs taken in each year and a 39 percent decrease in the number of dogs euthanized.
Dogs still are animals, our endless manipulations and misperceptions of them notwithstanding, and it has now become the added and somehow logical role of animal shelters, in concert with local veterinarians, pet stores and dog breeders, and an ever-growing network of applied animal behaviorists and trainers, to remind us of this simple truth. To help us step back and readdress our best friends again. Mollaghan speaks of her approach as a three-part puzzle: Try to get a handle on the dogs. Try to read a potential adopter”s personality and expectations. And, finally, develop the relationship element itself ” try to get a sense of how people are choosing their dogs, what criteria they’re using.
The first part can be particularly daunting. Any abandoned dog is the living embodiment of a broken bond of some sort, an intriguing if maddeningly inarticulate emissary of some prior human entanglement. The challenge for shelter workers trying to re-home that animal, of course, is to get a firm enough idea of its disposition, which naturally deteriorates with every passing second the dog spends among its equally miserable fellow captives, to feel fairly confident that they’re not dispatching a ticking time bomb into someone’s life.
“The timing of these tests is pretty sensitive,” Mollaghan said as we made our way to the kennel of our next test subject, “because of the stress response of these animals.” The very act of our passing by them, Mollaghan explained, contributes to their decline, setting dogs off into a frenzy of barking and jumping because, invariably, some other visitor stopped once before and spoke to them and took them out on a lead. It’s a syndrome known as “conditioned frustration.”
“They were rewarded once,” Mollaghan went on to say, “so they behave that way whenever anyone passes. Why do people continue to gamble in the face of constant losing? Because they won once.”
…
“They pick up on [other cues] too,” Mollaghan told me. “A lot of them start to vomit or soil themselves the minute they enter the euthanasia room.”
On the way to retrieving our day’s last subject, fate delivered me a far more intimate look at the other two parts of Mollaghan’s puzzle and the larger dramas of modern-day dog adoption than I had ever anticipated getting. It happened at Stray 3, Kennel No. 252. Two names were listed on her data sheet: Cricket and Olive. A twice-abandoned “border terrier mix.” Tiny. Just over 12 pounds. A breathing bundle of gray-and-white carpet lint with long pipe-cleaner-like legs, a slight underbite and the proverbial button eyes. I’d have guessed the first-ever mating of a Maltese and a spider monkey. But whatever unknowable admixture of cockeyed progeny, behavioral flaws and human perversions had led to this creature’s double exile, it made no difference to me. I had lost not only my journalistic objectivity, my so-called reporterly remove, but also all remnants of reason and rationality. I was, in a word, sunk.
Mollaghan was on to me before I’d uttered a word: to the fact that I was both instantly becoming one of her human test subjects and already committing the classic shelter-shopper faux pas. I was going on first impression, mere appearance. I’d fallen for one of the “cutesy” dogs, one whose very presence there among the dime-a-dozen midsize mixes that I should, in good conscience, have been considering, only further bewitched me, the way she calmly and mutely came right up to greet me amid a maelstrom of barking and jumping kennel mates.
Back at Mollaghan’s office, we learned the following about Cricket/Olive: a spayed female, approximately 2 years old, found three days before, roaming the grounds of the Anderson Oaks town-home community. This was, we soon verified, her second stint at Town Lake. There was no information on her original owner, but as for her second, a guy named Forbes, records showed that he adopted her from Town Lake seven weeks earlier. An immediate message had been left on Forbes’s answering machine and an e-mail sent, quoting the usual reclaim fee of $50 and giving him a three-day deadline to reclaim his dog.
“That’s today,” I said.
“Yep,” Mollaghan said, staring up at the office clock, which read 6:40 p.m. “He’s got until closing. Twenty minutes.” And then we learned this: I didn’t have a prayer. Even if Forbes didn’t show, three others before me had dibs on Cricket/Olive. “So much for that,” I said, my sudden scheme of returning to Brooklyn and surprising my wife, Bex, and our own shelter-adopted terrier mix, Roz, evaporating as quickly as it had coalesced.
“Not necessarily,” said Mollaghan, who, I soon learned, was hatching a scheme of her own, one that would pivot around her intimate knowledge of the fickleness of dog adopters and certain nuances in the dog-adoption process itself. No. 2 on the waiting list turned out to be a rescue group. If, Mollaghan explained, she could get the rescue group to defer to me as its ideal adopter, that would legitimately leapfrog me to the slot just behind the first C.I. (customer interest) on the list, a man named Welch. He had happened upon Kennel No. 252 the day Cricket/Olive arrived. Welch’s deadline clock of 36 hours would commence ticking the day after the one expired on Forbes.
Seven p.m. would come and go that evening with no sign of the mercurial Mr. Forbes. Beneath the once daunting list of the three other prior C.I.’s for the dog, Mollaghan now typed the following: “Charles Siebert (visiting journalist from nytimes mag) also has strong interest in Cricket a k a Olive. I will advise him to contact rescue if the other app. falls through.”
…
Kennel No. 227 in Stray 3, one of the kennels for larger dogs, held a light tan, somewhat undernourished-looking pit bull named Lana. She hugged to the back corner of her kennel and, upon being greeted, began to tremble uncontrollably. Mollaghan opened the gate, went in and crouched down, very low, so as to be less threatening. A petite woman with a round-eyed, elfish face, she seemed utterly fearless and under control at all times. She waited a bit longer in silence. Called out again. More trembling.
“If I were to go any closer,” Mollaghan said to me in a hushed voice, “this dog would definitely bite me.”
She stepped gingerly back outside and locked the gate. She pulled out the stat sheet from the plastic pouch on the front of Lana’s kennel, telling me that they get dogs like her all the time. They usually have names like Nitro or Cocaine or Killer, dogs that spend their lives chained in yards, having no contact with other dogs or humans.
It had been, up until then, a fairly positive afternoon as shelter-dog days go. We had tested a young but extremely well-balanced Labrador-cattle dog mix that responded to the taffeta-doll dance and my rain-coated flasher-man get-up with what seemed like a perfectly appropriate mix of curiosity and concern. He was followed by a 7-year-old husky-malamute, a dog that countenanced the entire battery of assessments with such a world-weary calm that he somehow rendered us, the testers, the species under examination. We didn’t rate too well when it came to Lana. She would be put down the following afternoon.
[Sparky was much luckier.] Sparky’s new owners, Elizabeth and Dennis Cole, had previously had a bad experience with an adopted shelter dog orphaned by Hurricane Katrina. Elizabeth Cole came to Town Lake and had a pre-adoption consultation with Mollaghan to discuss what she was looking for in a dog. Sparky, Mollaghan told me, was not the match she would have made, but after their consult, Cole went off by herself among Town Lake’s kennels and immediately fell for Sparky.
“I like recycled men,” Cole told me as we sat sipping coffee in her backyard. “My husband’s first marriage ended in divorce.” After Cole chose Sparky, Mollaghan immediately went to work on the dog, taking him out of his kennel and keeping him beside her in her office each day. She gradually conditioned him to human company and was able to temper his aggression. Now, in the Coles’ backyard, she was instructing their 11-year-old son, Criss, on how to manage an extremely contented-looking, mild-mannered Sparky on the lead. He had been with the Coles now for four months. A real-life canine rags-to-riches story.
“We basically got him for our son,” Elizabeth Cole told me, smiling broadly. “But now I’m totally in love.”
I asked if there were any lingering problems with Sparky, who was now at my feet, gleefully absorbing a back rub. Cole said the only thing was that he refuses to go up stairs. It all only further fueled my fervor for Olive, convincing me that whatever it was that got her twice tossed by her previous owners, it could be overcome.
As things turned out, however, I needn’t have worried. About any of it. The following day, another deadline on Olive came and went. Mollaghan phoned me at my hotel at 1 p.m. sharp to say that the little girl was mine. Three months have passed. Olive and Roz play and nap together all day long, sleep at night intertwined. No sign whatsoever to date of that inner devil. It’s hard for me to imagine now why she was never reclaimed, or why her next suitor never showed. I’ve often thought of picking up the phone to try to find out, but somehow it’s better not knowing. Sometimes, Mollaghan told me, a dog’s behavior just hews to and mirrors the environment that it’s living in, and there is something deeply reaffirming, heartening in that. Just as there is in watching the daily loosening of Olive’s abandonment anxiety: from the early days of her following everywhere at my heels, even when I got up for a drink of water in the middle of the night, to now seeing her dare solo, field-long dashes during our walks in the park, nearly out of sight, just because she feels that she can.
Per AnimalHubbub.com…
Del Monte has voluntarily recalled various treats, snacks and wet dog food with specific codes. Brands affected include Jerky Treats, Gravy Train Beef Sticks, Pounce Meaty Morsels and some Dollar General treats, and some Ol’ Roy and Happy Tails wet dog food. Cat foods are also involved.
Delmonte pet food recalls
Many people think most dog food uses meat that is unfit/unsafe for humans and is unhealthy for animals as well. Should you care to, here are some web sites for making homemade dog food and biscuits. I’m sure there are lots of sites for cat food as well. Basically it is 40% meat, 30% Vegetables, 30% Starch.
http://www.i-love-dogs.com/dog-food-recipes.html
http://www.seefido.com/html/dog_food_recipes.htm
http://www.dragonbear.com/rec-food.html
http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/2049/doggie.htm
http://www.dogaware.com/treatref.html
Thanks to JAN S. for this pet information!
RESPONSE to this blog RECEIVED FROM OWNER OF RALPHIE!!
I was sent the link to your blog, and I thought you would be interested in this…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danakay/sets/72057594054088045/
They are very happy and make every day special.
Dana
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[These pix and story are going around in emails but worth repeating... warms your heart!]
The story begins with the rescuers finding this poor little guy they named Ralphie that someone had already taken under their wing but weren’t equipped to adopt;
Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers…
I wouldn’t think anything could live thru this… but we were wrong.
This little lady survived that wreckage.
Here she is just placed in the car - scared, but safe.
and then… no longer alone!
Instant friends, they comforted each other while in the car.
Add two more beagles found after that… the more, the merrier!
Oh boy, a new traveler to add to the mix… (note: the cat coming over the seat needing shelter…) now just how is this going to work???
It’s going to work just fine, thank you very much!
Wow! The things we learn from our animal friends…
If only all of mankind could learn such valuable lessons as this. Lessons of instant friendship. Of peace and harmony by way of respect for one another — no matter one’s color or creed.
These animals tell you… “It’s just good to be alive and with others.”
“Life’s a Gift… Unwrap It!”
[THANKS to friend and contributor DD for passing this along! And ENDLESS THANKS to all the selfless, generous folks who have done what they could to help out after the disaster of Katrina.]
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