Where has the year gone? The Holidays are here again and sharing them with our pets is part of the fun. However, there are potential dangers for your beloved companions.
If you are decorating the house remember that many plants are poisonous to dogs and cats including ivy, lilies, poinsettia, holly and mistletoe. While poinsettia may not kill your cat or dog it will at the least make your pet very sick. It's better to err on the side of caution.
If you're putting up a Christmas Tree don't put it close to the wall or near furniture because it's too easy for your cat to climb up and topple it and get hurt. Pets can also easily break ornaments. The shards of glass will be dangerous to pets and anyone walking barefoot. Use unbreakable ornaments. Or, if your pet won't be able to access the top of the tree or tip the tree over, put breakable ornaments nearer the top of the tree. Don't use tinsel! If your pet swallows tinsel it can cause internal damage requiring surgery. It can also cause internal bleeding.
Remember that chocolate is dangerous to pets. The smaller your pet the more likely it is that she or he will get very sick. Keep food out of reach.
If you're hosting a party either confine your pets to one room with food, water, litterbox for felines, and some toys. People coming and going can accidentally allow your pets to escape your home. They can also step on your pets, give them food and/or beverages they shouldn't have and if there are small children in attendance they can easily injure your pet by picking him up or pulling tails, ears, poking, etc. Children can also drop small dogs or children's shiny jewelry that your pet could swallow. The noise of a party, with or without children, can also be confusing and upsetting to some pets. It is often better to board your pet(s) overnight to be assured of safety.
For those who celebrate Chanukah, unless you can supervise until the candles burn down, it's better to replace your Menorah with an electric one. It might not be as traditional but it will certainly be safer for your pets!
Don't forget to have fun with your pets, give them some extra attention if you find yourself busier than usual, which is common this time of year. And I'm sure your pets will appreciate a new toy or two, and a treat! When choosing toys for your pets remember that there is no regulatory agency for pet toys, the industry is expected to regulate itself. Choose toys for your pets as you would choose toys for children. Be sure there are no parts to come off and be swallowed, no squeakers that can be removed, be sure toys are sturdy and always supervise your pets when you first give them a new toy. Also, beware of treat and toys made in China. Toys are often poorly constructed and treats from China have often been recalled. Better safe than sorry! Do not get cat teasers with mylar. While it looks shiny to you it can be dangerous to your cats because it can cause the equivalent of paper cuts around the cat's mouth. Ouch! Safety first!
Happy Holidays to you and those you love.
Note: We'll be participating in this year's Chanukah Crawl! Click on the link below the Badge to see the complete Chanukah Crawl schedule and find links to each post.
The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie is a charming novel that captures the reader's attention from the very first page as the cat recounts how life has brought her to the Dalai Lama's home with the stunning view of the Himalayas and how life is a series of experiences from which to learn.
Not one of those sickeningly sweet books where the cat talks, the cat serves as narrator and observer whose literary voice is more that of an adult human than an animal's and yet, her references as a feline are accurate. The feline attitude is never far away, nor are the feline characteristics with which the cat is imbued.
A tiny kitten who, along with her littermates is stolen by children determined to sell them, the kittens are much too young to leave their mother. The tiny kitten is the last one left and is nearly killed by the cruel children. As fate would have it, the Dalai Lama is just returning from a lecture tour and his car is stopped in traffic right across the street from where the children are about to kill the last kitten, the one they have injured. The Dalai Lama sends one of his people to buy the kitten; its uncertain survival now in the hands of The Dalai Lama who, along with his staff, nurses the kitten back to health.
Her new life brings her in contact with Buddhist masters, famous philanthropists, Hollywood stars, Ivy League professors and other people both famous and common. And from each situation the little cat grows emotionally as well as physically and learns much about life that we humans would do well to apply to ourselves. Change, we learn, begins from within us.
Michie has captured the culture, the pace and the beauty of the setting while his little cat captures the reader's heart.
This is a book that will stay with you long after the last page has been turned.
Published by Hay House you can The Dalai Lama's Cat at your local bookstore or online. Here's a link that will take you to it: http://www.amazon.com/Dalai-Lamas-Cat-David-Michie/dp/1401940587/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354225918&sr=1-1&keywords=the+dalai+lama%27s+cat
The holidays are upon us and once again, Hartz has a new line of four unique Angry Birds dog toys. We know how much fun pets had with them last year but this year there's some added fun for the owner - a contest on Facebook!
Here's the way it works. First, go to:
http://hartz.us/QFvR7Z
You'll find the Facebook game there.
Each of the new dog toys will be shown in four different holiday locations. The locations will be slowly revealed during the course of four weeks.
Each week - Monday through Sunday - a photo of one of the toys in a distinct setting will be featured on the Facebook page but only a small amount of the photo will be visible.
As the week goes on, more of the photo will be visible each day and will be fully revealed on Sunday.
You'll be able to submit your guesses about the location where the toy is hiding out as many times as you like throughout each week for a chance to win your own limited edition set of all four characters.
The contest starts today, November 26th, 2012 so hurry on over and join in the fun.
Also, if you want to win a toy for your dog, here's a second chance offering: write to me via my website:
www.darlenearden.com
Tell me why you think your dog needs a set of Angry Birds limited edition toys for the holidays!
Good luck and have fun!
Sometimes a book comes along that captivates you in a very special way. Such a book is Paw Tracks, A Childhood Memoir by Denis O'Connor. O'Connor, now retired, was a psychologist and teacher who was published in academic journals. How he got past his childhood and has had such a successful life is the miracle of this story.
Denis was raised in Northumberland where woods and riverbanks became his salvation, his escape from a brutal, unloving father. Verbal abuse or physical abuse would each be bad enough but the young Denis suffered them both with no real defense by his mother. He found loving people in his grandmother and a couple who owned a nearby farm.
What really saved him were the animals in his life. He found a way to communicate and work with his neighbor's aggressive dog, he gentled an untamed horse who had a similar background of abuse, a white cat that he had to say was his mother's in order to keep it. And worst of all, his beloved dog was put down by his father. Why? Because Denis loved the dog and the dog loved him.
O'Connor describes his childhood and surroundings in clear and vivid detail, including the enchantment of nature and how it came to mean so much to him. While many would not survive such a childhood, O'Connor was determined to better his life and get away from his father, the father who could never be proud of him. He knew that freedom would come through education and so he worked exceptionally hard to assure that he would go to university.
Paw Tracks is not a very lengthy book, only 214 pages that seem to fly as one moves along through Denis O'Connor's childhood and it leaves the reader wanting more.
Published by Constable & Robinson in London, the book is available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Paw-Tracks-Denis-OConnor/dp/1849019975/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352765127&sr=1-1&keywords=Paw+Tracks
When non-fiction dog writer, Sheila Webster Boneham turned her talents to fiction I wondered how she'd make the cross-over to a new genre. She did it with skill and produced her first novel, the page-turner, Drop Dead on Recall.
The protagonist, Janet MacPhail, is a dog photographer with a love of Obedience Trials and all things dog, especially her Australian Shepherd, Jay. A divorcee, her family is rounded out by Leo, her charming orange tabby. As the story opens, Janet is at an obedience trial where one of the best competitors in the country keels over in the ring in the middle of working her Border Collie. She dies not long afterwards.
The book is full of vivid descriptions of everything from scenery to people, bringing both alive for the reader. And what would any novel be without a little romance? Janet finds that in Tom, a fellow obedience trial lover with a Labrador Retriever.
As romance starts to bloom and bodies keep appearing, all from within the obedience trial community, Janet becomes a target. Will she be the next victim?
A subplot in the book deals with Janet's mother who has suddenly developed dementia. This difficult family issue is written with sympathy and understanding and allows for the added information about therapy dog work.
This is a book anyone would love. Boneham explains enough about the dog fancy, breeding and obedience trials for any reader to feel comfortable. For those who are already immersed in those topics, it's a bonus. She even works in the title of one of her non-fiction books. And when MacPhail decides her cat will be an indoor-only feline, it's a bonus of lesson learned for the character and the reader.
I was sorry to see the book end and hope this is the beginning of a series. You will, too.
It's with a heavy heart that I write. I wanted to blog for the last couple of days but couldn't seem to find a way to do it. But do it I must.
On October 18th the world lost a wonderful man, a pioneer in veterinary behavior whose inventions, The Gentle Leader (co-created with Ruth Foster and named by the Smithsonian as one of the world's 100 Best Inventions) and Easy Walk Harness have improved life for countless dogs and their owners. I did the first major interview with R.K. about the Gentle Leader halter system and he told me later that he nearly had to put in another phone line for all of the orders. We had met earlier at a Morris Animal Foundation meeting in 1990. His warmth and lack of any ego, his interest in everything around him and his quick, sharp mind instantly impressed me. A friendship began to grow, a bond of mutual respect and trust.
Born and raised in Colorado, R.K. became the Director of Veterinary Public Health in Denver after his stint in the Navy which had followed his graduation from veterinary school. Even in those early days he was positive, training shelter dogs with food instead of punishment. Such a gentle, caring man could do no less, especially one who had been raised around cows and horses; you can't put a choke collar on either of those animals.
Relocating to Minnesota in 1954 to become the University's first Director of Veterinary Public Health Program at the School of Public Health, he was also a researcher into such diseases as Brucellosis.
By 1980 he was ready for even more knowledge and took a sabbatical. He went to University of California, Davis to study Animal Behavior and Psychology.
One of the founders of the Delta Society, now called Pet Partners, he was a long-time proponent of the human-animal bond. He founded The Animal Behavior Resources Institute.
R.K. received many honors in his lifetime and there will, no doubt, be posthumous honors for this very special man.
I remember R.K. telling me, at the very first meeting of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants that he came because he was told that I was there. Whether true or not, and I've never known R.K. to tell anything but the truth, I was deeply humbled and honored by his words. He was honored there as well.
He leaves behind family, a long-time companion, and many friends, colleagues and countless admirers. The world has lost a great man. Animals have lost a real hero who made life so much better for so many of them. And my heart hurts.
Do some research about the man, learn more about his life, his work. He would never brag about it. And say a little prayer of thanks that he lived such a full, rich life and made such a tremendous impact on the world of people and animals.
Rest well, my friend.
Amazon CARES, the not-for-profit animal organization has secured a conviction in the Iquitos area of Peru. The victory is a case in which a woman was charged with poisoning a 5-month-old puppy.
After seven months, this landmark verdict was recently handed down, setting a legal precedent for all of Peru, and an example for many Third World nations.
“In this particular case, Amazon Cares, in partnership with the Iquitos Bar Association, had been working with legislative officials to enforce and/or strengthen animal cruelty laws,” Amazon CARES’ Founder and Executive Director, Molly Mednikow, shares. “This case, of a neighbor intentionally poisoning and killing her neighbor's puppy, is the first case we have brought to trial.”
Sandra Milagros Padilla Alvis, never imagined that an attempt on the life of Arthas, a 5-month-old puppy, owned by Alfredo Martín Díaz García, would result in being charged for a crime. In the 3rd Counsel Magistrates Court, Padilla Alvis was sentenced for offenses against morality under an Animal Abuse and Cruelty Code and will pay fines of 2000 Peruvian Nuevo Soles, which will cost her one-fourth of her income for nearly seven months.
Amazon Community Animal Rescue, Education and Safety (Amazon CARES) remains the only charity in the entire Peruvian Amazon region dedicated to the protection of domestic animals and wildlife. Programs extend far beyond animal health, and Amazon CARES is recognized for humane education, assisted animal therapy, and volunteer driven travel to areas with no access to veterinary care.
Alfredo Diaz tells the story, remembering what happened to his puppy and saying that it was time to have justice for the life of Arthas. His speaking up is a sign of progress for Amazon CARES AMAZON Cares, which continually advocates that people should not remain silent about these abuses.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Molly Mednikow received her MBA and began working in her family’s jewelry business. Though successful, she began traveling to the Peruvian Amazon to deliver school supplies to remote jungle villages. By 2004, her interests in Peru had grown to the extent that she made a life-altering decision. She stepped away from her jewelry business to spend a year in the Amazon. In 2005, she finalized her decision and made her move official, selling her business back to family members. Mednikow lived in the Peruvian Amazon until 2008, when she returned to the United States to open an office from which her charity could grow. Mednikow divides her time between Peru and the United States.
Brava to this courageous woman who is making a real difference in the lives of companion animals in Peru.
