My Dog's Food Has WHAT In It?

It seems like there is a new dog food, dog treat recall every other week!   

There is such a variety of brands…flavors…grain-free…dry…wet…raw…it can get confusing.   

We have found a helpful resource in dogfoodadvisor.com  It is a blog, written and edited by one man, Mike Sagman.  

There are a number of ways you can search the site: 

Brands A to Z, Dry Dog Foods, Wet Dog Foods, Raw Dog Foods, Dog Food Recalls (you can sign up to get recall alerts by email), Dog Food Calculator, Most Popular Reviews, etc.

There are articles on how to choose the best dog food for your dog, how to make sense of dog food ingredients, and explains the process that DogFoodAdvisor uses to rate dog foods.

Consumers are encouraged to give their opinions through comments and conversations on the site's forums.  

We believe it is worth your while to do a little exploring on this site and also have a conversation with your vet about your options.

Remember!  Healthy Dogs are Happy Dogs!!

Friday Funny--Maymo the Lemon Beagle

Have you all seen Maymo?  I hadn't until this morning and now I'm a fan--he's a little guy with a huge personality.   Sit back, enjoy your Friday morning coffee with a little bit of Maymo.

Things I Learned in Pet First Aid Class--Hydrogen Peroxide is Our Friend

Has your pet ever eaten something it shouldn't? Like a balloon?

 Giving your dog 3 percent hydrogen peroxide is an effective and safe way to make it throw up the item it swallowed. Give one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide for every 10 pounds of body weight (up to 9 tsps). You can administer the hydrogen peroxide with an eyedropper or a syringe aimed to the back of your dog's throat. This method will take up to 20 minutes to take effect. 

  

DO NOT make your pet throw up if the toxin is caustic like drain cleaner, acidic (like battery acid), or a petroleum-based product. If you are unsure if the material that was ingested is toxic, contact your personal vet or emergency vet (if after hours) and let them tell you how best to handle the situation. (Animal Poison Control at 888-426-4435 is an option, but there is a $65 fee for this service.)

DO NOT induce vomiting if the animal is having difficulty breathing.

DO NOT induce vomiting if the animal's heart rate is very slow or if the object eaten was pointed or sharp (like a cooked chicken bone)

If you dog has a wound from another animal biting it, seek immediate veterinary advice.  For after-the-vet at home care, you can clean the area gently with a hydrogen peroxide moistened gauze three or four times a day, followed by triple-antibiotic ointment.  It is important to monitor the wound for infections by looking for 

                   A:   Excessive redness

     B:  Swelling 

       C:  Discharge

If you see any of the above, a re-check with the vet may be needed.

Adoptables Wednesday--Mack and Mia

We have a client who fosters Labrador Retrievers with Lab Rescue.  We are delighted to meet the dogs she fosters as they come to her home for some loving and then go to their new fur-ever homes.  Mack and Mia are the latest we had the privilege to visit with this week.  

This is Mia.  She is a sweet, gentle snuggle-muffin who enjoys just being with you. 

This is Mack.  He is a tennis-ball chasing, happy guy who oozes joy out of every bone in his body.  

This update is from our client, who is their foster:

"I think I have hit the foster lottery. When it comes to easy, these two top the list. Mack and Mia are snuggly, happy and affectionate and just as happy to curl up on the couch and snuggle all day long as they are to go for walks or play outside. I have been walking them together and they do great. Mia and Mack are house trained and crate trained. They know their commands such as sit, stay, down and shake hands.

They both ride amazingly in the car! They both settled relatively quickly into my house. Both are very loving and sweet. Mia is a big lug of love. She is very low key. Mack has more energy and is willing to play whenever. When he found the tennis ball in my house, he acted like he had been reunited with a lost friend. Mack and Mia get along and are clearly bonded. Mia loves to be petted and loved on, while Mack loves to retrieve the ball, but he is a great snuggler when it comes to love time. They are great dogs and will make their new family very happy. They balance each other out perfectly." 

They are a bonded pair--which means they must be adopted together.  If you have any questions about Mack and Mia, please contact the wonderful people at Lab Rescue, either on their website of by calling   301-299-6756

What I Learned In Pet First Aid Class--Part 1

Did you know that if your pet has some dirt in his eye, you can use a little blue or red flashlight to see it?   To remove dirt, use a saline solution.   Put the bottle near, but not in, your dog’s eye and squeeze the bottle gently. Be sure that the bottle is angled downward, so that gravity will assist you in flushing out the debris. 

You can also use the same red or blue light to locate any kind of foreign object (thorn, splinter, tick) in your dog's pads or fur.  

After you find the object, remove it swiftly and firmly. 

(To remove ticks, see our blog about tick removal HERE)  

Clean the wound with antiseptic and apply antibiotic salve, then bandage the wound or  bootie the foot. Because dogs don’t have thumbs, it can be hard to get a bandage to stay on a paw. Push up on the bottom of the foot and wrap with a gauzy bandage from the joint above the ankle down to the pad and then back up the leg. But be careful not to wrap too tight, you’ll cut off circulation and your dog’s foot will swell. 

Proof that Cats Are 99% Liqiuid

Got Tick?

Ticks are gross.  I got nauseous just looking at them with Google images.  Don't look if you get queasy looking at creepy, crawly blood suckers.

Ticks are arachnids.  They are external parasites that live off of the blood of other animals.  They carry and spread diseases like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme disease.  They thrive in warm, humid climates and tend to be in the same vicinity as herds of deer.  Can we say Hello Maryland!?!

Living where we do, we are going to encounter ticks.  On us and on our pets.  How do you remove a tick?  Some recommend slathering it with Vaseline or baby oil to make it lose suction.  Then, you use something like this:

A Tick Key. 

 It claims to be 99% effective in removing the whole tick.  Tweezers can squeeze and rip the tick, squirting infective fluids and leaving the head in the wound. 

Find out more about Tick Key HERE and join me in eliminating ticks, one tick at a time.  

YUCK.

Sage is a Hero--Your Dog Can Be One, Too!

The Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank has been in the news recently.  Two local TV stations ran stories last month:

7/14/13--WJZ-TV--Baltimore County Humane Society BRVBB Blood Drive

7/11/13--WMAR-TV on BRVBB

Not to wag our own tail….but…..Barks and Blooms first shared BRVBB on December 4,  2012.  Here is the original blogpost, starring one of our fabulous clients, Sage.

Meet Sage.  She is a vibrant, clever, goofy, rambunctious, gleeful Chocolate Lab.  I met Sage almost 3 years ago when she was just a wee puppy.

Cute, isn’t she?  Here’s another when she was just 12 weeks old.  (By the way, I’ve shamelessly stolen these pics from her owners Facebook page–Hi Linda!)

Sage has grown up in the years since these were taken.  Here’s a more recent photo.

Still stinkin’ cute, right?    Sage is on her way to becoming a hero.   ‎

Sage met with the wonderful people representing the Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank  to determine if she would make a good voluntary canine blood donor.  I tagged along to the 4 Paws Spa in Forest Hill to observe the process.

First, Sage  gave the volunteers a good sniff.  The next step was to make her comfortable on the table.  

That step and the ones following were made easier (and yummier) for Sage because Linda kept a steady stream of kibble and peanut butter coming her way.  Sage was one happy pup.

The Vet tech examined Sage, determining her comfort level with the process, and checking out the area of her neck where the blood would be drawn.

For that step, the other tech got into position and gave Sage a fully body hug while Linda kept up the flow of peanut butter and kibble.

Sage was so delighted with the treats and the constant positive attention from Linda and the tech that she didn’t even notice the needle prick and the blood draw.  See how totally relaxed her legs are?  She’s practically melting off the side of the table.

Sage’s blood will be tested to determine what her blood type is and screen it for any health issues that would make her unable to be a donor.   (We know she’s absurdly healthy, but it’s an important step)  And since Sage was so agreeable to this initial procedure Linda can now set up appointments for Sage to donate blood regularly.  To find out how your dog(s) can be heroes, please contact The Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank for more information.

Donors@BRVBB.com

Tell them Sage sent you!

Adoptables Wednesday--Sadie and Brownie

 To Sponsor Sadie and Brownie or to Find Out More about Lab Rescue, CLICK HERE

Sadie & Brownie are a bonded pair of 8 year old labs. Sadie

 is a black spayed female who weighs 77 lbs and Brownie is 

a chocolate neutered male who weighs 71 lbs. They are 

both up to date on their shots and are heat worm negative.

 They are good with other dogs and are approved for kids of 

all ages. Sadie & Brownie are house and crate trained, and 

used to being crated when no one is home. They haven't 

been on leashes much, so an Easy Walk harness will help 

them learn their manners. Sadie & Brownie know some 

commands including sit and lay down. They love to run

 around the yard and enjoy retrieving balls. Sadie & Brownie 

are sweet, friendly pups looking for their new home 

together!

Friday Funny--Cat Friend vs. Dog Friend

This week's Friday Funny gives us an idea of how our friends would act if they were cats…or dogs. Happy Friday, people!

Enjoy!

J.J…..Jamaican Me Crazy With Your Cute Self!

One of our Fabulous walkers Tracey shared this story with us and I couldn't help but pass it along to you…

"Our family has had a home at Roundhill, Jamaica for about 20 years.  A few days before we left for vacation, we received a call from one of our staff who said they thought a dog may have had a litter of pups under the foundation.  They made sure water and food were available in case the mother was still around.  

When we got to the house, we could hear the pups crying but could not get to them.  There were two, one was all black and one was black and white.  One night they cried all night long and we were heartbroken because we could not get to them.  The next day our gardener found the black and white puppy, who must have crawled out of his birthing place."

"Our gardener said he was pretty sure another gardener from one of the surrounding properties had the black puppy.  My daughter, my son, and the four other kids with us immediately took over care of this sweet puppy and discovered it was covered in fleas.  However, it was nice and plump so the mother did a good job taking care of them until she abandoned them.  The girls gave the puppy (that they named JJ) a bath; combing and de-flea-ing him until he was shiny and smelling good."

"Our cook Jerome, who had just lost his dog, named Whiskey, asked if he could have him.  Of course the girls wanted to bring JJ home, but that wasn't possible.  Jerome wants to change JJ's name to Scotch.   We are going back to Jamaica in November for a delayed celebration of my 50th birthday so I should see JJ "aka Scotch" and will update you with a picture. We miss him already!"