Oil Spill Today in San Francisco Bay - How You Can Help

Earlier today, an unknown quantity of oil spilled from a vessel called the Dubai Star into the San Francisco Bay. To help limit the threat this spill poses to the bay’s wildlife, OWCN (Oiled Wildlife Care Network) has deployed two teams (one on land and one in the water) whose sole purpose is to capture and help any oiled wildlife they encounter.

On its website, the OWCN writes that it “is the world’s only oiled wildlife response organization boasting more than 25 different members comprised of world-class aquaria, universities, scientific organizations and rehabilitation groups. Established in 1994 by the Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, it is currently administered by the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center in the School of Veterinary Medicine.”

The good news, according to the OWCN blog, is that at this time no oiled wildlife have been found. At this time, the OWCN is not requesting additional volunteers. If you encounter oiled wildlife, please do not attempt to rescue the animal yourself. Instead, call the OWCN hotline (877-823-6926). For additional ways that you can help, please visit their website.

Does Your Dog Need A Flu Shot?

If you have children in school, you know that diseases like colds and flu can spread like wildfire. I used to teach preschool and when cold and flu season hit, we never went a week without at least one teacher being absent owing to illness. Apparently a similar situation exists for dogs.

According to a report by the Virginia Channel 8 news, dogs that are being boarded while their owners travel may be at risk for contracting canine flu. Canine flu is a severe respiratory illness that made its appearance in the canine world about 6 years ago.  The virus can live in water bowls, food bowls, and on toys for as long as 48 hours and can pass from dog to dog if an infected dog shared any of those items with an uninfected dog. Your best bet is to contact your veterinarian to help you decide whether your dog needs a flu shot. The good news is that if he does, there are currently no reported shortages of the vaccine.

How (Not) To Pack For Your Pet

(A special thank you to my parents and their dog Shana who provided fodder for this blog posting). Packing for a trip involving only humans can be difficult enough. When you are packing for a pet as well, the whole process becomes significantly more complicated. Here are some tips to make the process a bit easier:

Tip 1: Pay No Attention to the Weather Forecast

My parents recently left on a week-long trip to Oregon. They brought their Coton Shana with them because this is predominately a hiking trip vacation and Shana loves the Oregon woods better than just about any place she has ever been. If you have ever been to Oregon you know it rains. A lot. So, prior to leaving, my mother insisted I accompany her in her search for a raincoat for Shana. I am not at all sure WHY I was brought on this search since a) I was not going on this trip, b) I was definitely not the one who needed said raincoat, and c) I saw no reason whatsoever to buy a doggy raincoat when Petlane makes an absolutely wonderful one called the Ruff Weather Coat. When I brought this up however, I was informed that Shana would be entirely too hot in our raincoat (which is lined with a lightweight fleece).

My parents left for Oregon on Thursday. Friday I received a call. Could I please package up and send, overnight delivery, the following items: 1) my mom’s right hiking boot (apparently she had brought one sneaker and hiking boot - but only really needed the hiking boot), 2) Shana’s sweatshirt (because the dog who was going to be too hot was so cold she was shivering), and 3) you guessed it, a Ruff Weather Coat.

I must say that I give the post office worker immense credit though. He didn’t so much as bat an eyelash when I walked up to the counter, dumped a hiking boot, 2 doggy sweatshirts, and a doggy raincoat on it, and announced that I needed this to get to Eugene, OR by tomorrow and needed advice on the best way to make that happen.

Tip #2: Don’t Bother Sealing The Water Container

Dogs (and all animals actually) naturally get thirsty on long car rides. In preparation for this trip, my mom had packed a water bottle and a small bowl specifically for Shana’s use. So, about four hours into the trip, my dad pulled over at a rest stop to stretch his legs and let Shana out to walk around and get a drink. I’m not entirely clear on the exact circumstances, but my understanding is that the top was not properly screwed onto the bottle (how the bottle did not empty itself out in the car is anybody’s guess). Anyway, the upshot is that apparently both Shana and my dad wound up looking like they had been in the drink as opposed to having one (which leads me to ask from exactly what height my dad was pouring the water - because usually when I fill a bowl for the dogs from a cup or bottle, I squat down next to the bowl and pour the water into it. In this scenario, the only way Shana could have gotten wet was if she was standing in the bowl at the time water was being poured into it. Of course, knowing Shana and her love of water, this is not an entirely unimaginable scenario.)

Tip #3: Assume Your Food is Actually Your Food

There is something about road trips that demands that you take complete leave of your otherwise sensible eating habits and indulge instead in fast food snacks. And if you have a dog travelling with you, you had better be prepared to share those snacks. When you are travelling by car and you stop for a bite, one of two things is going to happen: 1) It is too hot for you to leave your pet in the car so you go through a drive-through and remain in the car while you eat. In this scenario your dog is going to go through every trick in the book to convince you that he is dying from hunger and that only by you sharing your McDonald’s hamburger with him will he in fact survive the next 10 minutes. The experienced traveller is prepared for this and simply buys two hamburgers in the first place. 2) The second scenario is that it’s actually cool enough (say around 50 degrees or so) for you to leave your dog in the car with the windows at least partly rolled down while you devour a quick meal at a local restaurant. In this case, you are probably going to try to get a seat by the window so that you can keep an eye on your dog and your car. Your dog will then inevitably spend your entire meal staring through the windshield with that look of pathetic longing on its face that only a dog can achieve. In this situation you will either wind up racing through your meal and then stopping at the nearest drive-through to buy your dog a hamburger and assuage your guilt, or race through 1/2 your meal, scooping up the remains in a doggy bag, and allowing your dog to munch away happily while you resume your trip.

What do you do to prepare for travel with your pet?

When the Dog Goes In the Neighbor’s Yard

This morning, I roused my dog Jade out of bed and announced we were going for a walk. Jade, whose sole goal in life is to move as little as humanely possible, treated this news with about as much enthusiasm as I might if someone announced that Top Chef, Project Runway, and America’s Next Top Model had all been permanently canceled (that’s about the equivalent of telling most American males that Monday Night Football has been permanently removed from all television stations and will not be returning in their lifetimes).

As you can imagine, it took some coaxing but I finally convinced Jade to at least walk the distance from our bedroom to just outside the front door. Once there, Jade studied the patch of lawn in front of the house, decided the grass is entirely too high (It hasn’t been cut in two weeks which really isn’t a terribly long time. The only problem is I have grass that seems to grow at a rate previously unknown to civilization. If I could get my trees and plants to grow at the same speed as my grass, I could be living in my own little wilderness by now.) and damp for his delicate paws (Jade is affectionately nicknamed “sugar paws” for a reason) and made a mad dash (by Jade standards) for the lawn next door (in my neighbor’s yard).

Now I’ve never actually met this particular neighbor, but I can’t imagine that anyone would be too pleased to have a strange dog using their lawn as a bathroom, especially if they are not in possession of a pet themselves. So I set off after Jade - who for reasons I still have yet to ascertain - took off in a dead run (and keep in mind this is a dog who usually walks at a pace that is comparable to relatively fast moving garden snails).

While there were several relatively inconspicuous spots that Jade could have chosen (if he absolutely insisted on this lawn and no where else), he instead rounded the side the house and found what he determined to be appropriate patch of grass exactly two feet from the front door and, uh, squatted in the manner that told me to at least be thankful that I had grabbed a plastic bag before leaving the house a few moments earlier.

Seeing my chance however, I (and I am not making this up) swooped in and snatched Jade around the middle, ran back to our front lawn. I deposited Jade in smack in the middle of the lawn - praising him madly (for what I’m not entirely certain). For his part, Jade took one sniff of my lawn, looks at me with a look that only be described as one of “oh you poor creature - you actually think this is going to work?” and scampers back to the neighbor’s lawn, checks out a few relatively isolated areas where at least the risk of my being seen by my neighbor is fairly low and then makes a beeline back to the patch by the front door. And this time there was no way I was getting there in time.

The upshot is that while I was able to remove any traces of Jade having used my neighbor’s lawn, I may have to sneak back over some dark night and scatter miracle grow lawn seeds over the now completely bald patch in my neighbor’s front yard that I created while attempting to ensure that not a single blade of grass remained that might indicate a dog had been in the yard.

For future reference, especially if I am on a walk with Jade around the neighborhood, what is considered good pet bathroom etiquette?

Cat Toys Sorely Lacking In Variety

As a member of the direct sales industry, I naturally receive trade magazines. Since these magazines are primarily geared at brick-and-mortar retail stores, I usually only find one or two articles with really applicable information, but I enjoy reading them nevertheless.  A recent issue of one of these magazines was talking about “what’s next” for individual pet product categories (e.g. What’s the future of treats, What’s the future of dog toys).  The article on cat toys said something to the effect of “with such a variety of cat toys on the market…” I read the sentence twice to make sure I had read it correctly.

Since I work for a pet product company, it’s pretty rare that I walk into a pet store (Petlane doesn’t carry Advantage and Frontline so that’s something I have to buy elsewhere). When I do, I naturally look around to see what types of toys the stores carry. I also attend pet product trade shows on the lookout for new products for our company. And to be honest, I fail to see this great variety to which the article refers.

What I mainly see is a lot of variation on a theme. For example, I can find about eight different versions of a bat-around plastic ball (would you like it painted with rainbow stripes? covered in fake fur? complete with little googly eyes and a tail?). I sometimes think it’s no wonder that America’s cats are facing an obesity problem - they’re not playing enough because they’re bored!

And then I think about a company like mine, like Petlane (yes I know - blatant plug ) and all the incredible cat products we have to offer. There is absolutely nothing stopping us from carrying the same little balls and fake mice that pet stores do. Nothing stopping us except that we deliberately choose toys that will stimulate your cat physically, or challenge him intellectually. When you look at our new catalog, you will see symbols next to many of our products (cat and dog products alike) that indicate that this toy has been specifically chosen for its physical, emotional, intellectual, and/or social benefits.  So the next time you shop for a toy for your cat, ask yourself “am I buying my cat just another toy? Or am I purchasing something that will really benefit her.” брат трахает малолетнюю сестру фото

Pet Safe Halloween Decorations

I absolutely love Halloween. Any holiday that gives me an excuse to play dress-upand traipse around my local neighborhood with my friend and her children and receive gobs of candy for my efforts is a good holiday in my opinion. Getting dressed up and attempting to set the world’s record for most candy collected while trick-or-treating is, however, only part of the fun (at least in my opinion). Decorating the house and yard is equally fun - and makes driving through my neighborhood a real scream (you’ll pardon the horrible play on words I’m sure) this time of year.

Pumpkins are probably the most well-recognized Halloween symbol. This time of year trips to the pumpkin patch become mandatory and supermarkets have bins that are literally overflowing with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes and shades of orange. Carved pumpkins sit on doorsteps - their carved faces leering at passersby. Unfortunately, these classic decorations can also prove a potential source of danger to your pets.

A pumpking with a flickering candle inside can prove irressitable to a curious cat or dog. In addition to risking singed whiskers or a burnt paw (when the cat or dog decides that playing “catch the candle flame” is the best game ever invented), a playful pup or cat could inadvertently knock over a lit pumpkin and start a fire.

To avoid having your halloween fun spoiled by a trip to the emergency vet, opt for either battery operated pumpkin lights (this goes to just one place I found these lights to be readily available) or buy a Mr. Potato Head decorating kit for your pumpkin - no carving involved! Each kit (the clown and the pirate seem to be the two most readily available) comes with a variety of accessories to transform your pumpkin into anything from a pirate to a princess.

In addition to pumpkins, I see windows lit with spooky eyes, lawns covered with tombstones, and (fake) spiderwebs galore. The tombstones are great (unless you have a puppy who decides to take a chunk out of one), however the spider webs and light-up decorations can be hazardous to your pet. Power cords can prove irresistible to a teething puppy or curious bird (if you choose to go with decorative lights please keep the cord unplugged when you are not home and if at all possible block off entrance to the room with the lights when you are home and the lights are plugged in). Fake spiderwebs can also prove a tempting but deadly treat (fake spider webs pose a choking hazard or can cause intestinal blockage) if ingested by a curious animal.

Inside, you can replace flashing lights and spider webs with windows and wall clings (these should be available anyplace that sells Halloween supplies) to transform from your house into the spookiest house on the block.

glitter-graphics.com

What About ME?!

I have just returned from a week-long trip to Mexico. While I was gone, my dog Jade stayed with my parents. I returned home very late on Saturday night, and went over to my parents on Sunday to pick up Jade. When I walked in the door, Jade ran over and demanded pets and attention. He jumped on the couch when I sat down (well, he didn’t jump exactly - more like ran up the doggy steps my parents have so he can get off and on the couch easily) and nudged my hand (his way of demanding I scratch his ears) and licked my face. The “oh wow! Oh mom’s home! Oh I missed you mom!” lasted exactly three minutes.

Three minutes after walking in the door, my mom came into the kitchen to hear about my trip. Jade, without so much as a backward glance ran for my mom. When she came and sat on the couch, he cuddled up in her lap. When I stood up to leave - and called for Jade -Jade looked at me, looked at my mom, looked in the direction of where my parents keep the treats, and pressed his head against my mom. (I

I stood there, staring at my dog. “What about ME?!” I demanded. “You’re supposed to love ME!” As it turned out (as I offered various treats in an attempt to convince Jade that moving was actually worthwhile) , Jade loves Beef Jerky more than he loves either my mom or me. What sort of a response do you get from your pet when you come home from a trip?

Chicken vs. Chicken Meal in Pet Food

A lot of questions have come up recently about the differences between the ingredient “chicken” (or lamb which is one I also see frequently) and “chicken meal” (or lamb meal).  Chicken is defined by AAFCO as ”the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.” (The vast majority of high quality pet foods use deboned chicken). Chickenmeal on the other hand, is essentially chicken with the water removed.  Chicken meal is considered to be the single best source of protein in commercial pet food.

Chicken meal however should not be confused with chicken by-product meal - and I believe this is what many people think of when they hear “chicken meal.” AAFCO defines chicken by-product meal as “the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.” (I always wonder what the “except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice” actually means. While I could see for example missing a microscopic pin feather on a chicken carcass, how could a reputable butcher miss the fact that the chicken still has feet? What, the manufacturer sees a tiny part of a foot dangling from a chicken and says “ah well, at least most of it’s gone” and tips the chicken into the vat of pet food?).

What ingredients do you look for in a quality pet food? Is there a specific ingredient that you see that would cause you to refrain from buying food?

Top 10 Dog Parks in the US

Especially in urban areas, dog parks are a favorite among those of us who have four footed family members. Good dog parks offer dogs and their owners a chance to romp, socialize, and encounter a host of experiences (from splashing in a lake to running flat out across a field) that would otherwise be impossible. And best of all, these interactions occur completely off leash.

Yesterday. petside.com released it’s list of the top 10 US dog parks - and I am incredibly proud to say that Pt. Isabelle (a well-known dog park in Richmond, CA and a place I have been many times) was rated as the #1 dog park in America! Visit Top 10 Dog Parks in the US for the complete list, including photos.

Did your dog park make the cut? Is there a dog park that you feel should have been included in this list? голова болит секс

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