Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Rachael Ray Nutrish Dog Food Sample

I have found another new link for a free sample of Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food for those of you that have missed out. This one again is from Walmart (our last posted link from them has expired).

Information from Walmart - "The Great Taste and Nutrition Are No Coincidence
Rachael Ray adores her dog Isaboo and thinks that she deserves the best in both nutrition and taste. But she couldn’t find a food like that. Sure, there were nutritious foods. But they either cost an arm and a leg or the taste just wasn’t there. So she took matters into her own hands and teamed up with pet nutritionists to create Rachael Ray Nutrish™.

Rachael Ray Nutrish™ has:

• Real meat — like chicken or beef — as the first ingredient
• No meat by-products, fillers, artificial flavors or preservatives
• Simple, natural ingredients for overall health and wellness
• 100% complete and balanced nutrition"

Be advised that the free samples are available while supplies last and are limited to one (1) sample per household. Samples are only available to consumers in the United States.

Visit the Walmart website to learn more about this product and to request your free sample of Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food.

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Sunday, March 29, 2009

FindToto

FindToto™ is the Nations only EMERGENCY PHONE ALERT SYSTEM for lost, missing and stolen dogs, cats or any type of pet and leads the industry in lost pet recovery.



FindToto offers service to help find any lost pets, with their found rate among the highest in the industry.

FindToto lets you call in your pet’s information (name and description, where your pet was lost, last date seen, etc) and then will make calls to alert every household in your neighborhood that your pet has gone missing. FindToto.com processes your pet’s information and delivers it in an automated voice message.

You can buy packages from $95 to $875 that will alert anywhere from 500 to 10,000 people that your pet went missing, and if they find it to please let you know.

Findtoto is registered with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the National Do Not Call Registry (DNC).

A big thank you to Jamie who sent an e-mail informing me of this service.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Toxic Foods for my Labrador Retrievers

Subject: Toxic Foods for my Black Labrador Retriever

From: Florence (Canada)

Labrador Retriever Name: Shin-shin and Shawnee

Reader's E-mail - Florence Writes:

Hello Fay,

I write to you for information in reference to my two beautiful Labrador Retrievers. Shin-shin and Shawnee are both female yellow Labs that will be 1 1/2 years as of 12, March.

My family being big with six children always seem to feeding the dogs food and snacks and I take to worry that they might feed them wrong things. Can you help tell me what foods and snacks might be bad for them.

Thanks for help you provide.

With respect,
Florence

All About Labradors Answer:

The information given here is to help you learn more about your Labrador Retriever and not to replace your veterinarian's advice. Disclaimer

Thank you for writing Florence and for your patience awaiting your answer.

There is a good sized list of foods that can be toxic to your Labrador Retriever - chocolate, grapes, coffee, alcoholic beverages, and macadamia nuts to name a few.

The ASPCA has compiled a list of top 10 people foods that you should not feed your pet that I would like you to take a look at:

People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets

On the above list you will see garlic listed. I personally have been feeding my two Labrador Retrievers garlic juice for health reasons (small amount mixed with their food) and have never had any problems with this. The ASPCA states "an occasional low dose, such as what might be found in pet foods or treats, likely will not cause a problem, but we recommend that you do NOT give your pets large quantities of these foods". You will get positives and negatives recommendations for the use of garlic.

The ASPCA also provides another list of specific products or substance that you may have questions about:

People Foods

Last but not least over at peteducation.com you will find another outstanding list that will be of help to you:

Poisons and Toxic Foods for Dogs

I hope the above lists help you out and if you don't understand anything, please let me know. Thank you for the wonderful drawing by your children, I love it!

Take care of yourself, family, Shin-Shin and Shawnee,

Fay

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Free Pegetables Dog Treat Sample

This is an offer for free Pegetables dog treat samples, made with real vegetables.

Quote from Pegetables website - "Pegetables® is a nutritious & delicious premium dog treat made with real vegetables. Made from natural ingredients, Pegetables® provides your pet with the daily beneficial supplements derived from real vegetables to help your dog live a healthier, longer life.

Pegetables® dog chew treats are fortified with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, protein, fiber, calcium, vitamins A, B, C, D & E.

Pegetables® dog treats are designed with organic shapes to aid consumption & real vegetables throughout the entire treat to allow for easy breakup when chewed."

Sample are available for U.S. residents only with one sample per household. Allow 4-6weeks to receive your sample.

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Monday, March 16, 2009

Labrador Retriever won't sleep through the night

Subject:My Labrador Retriever won't sleep through the night.

From: Suzanne (USA)

Labrador Retriever Name: Graham

Reader's E-mail - Suzanne Writes:

Graham is now 9 months old. From ground up he is about 29 inches. When I took him for his 6 month old shots he weighed 78 pounds. There is no fat on him. He eats a ton of food. Some days he eats 11 cups of food. He loves to go on walks, play fetch, jumping in the lake.

Here is my problem....

He won't sleep through the night. He will sleep for a few hours and then he is wide awake, sometimes he has to go outside, most of the time he wants to play...... any suggestions. We are crate training him to a degree, he is almost to big for the crate.

All About Labradors Response:

Hi Suzanne,

My apologies on the delay as I receive many questions and it takes me some time to try and answer them all. I do have a couple of questions to ask in regards to Graham's sleeping problems.

Has he had this problem since day one or is this fairly new?

What does it mean when you state "We are crate training him to a degree"? (please be specific)

Does he sleep in the crate at night?

In what room of your home does he sleep?

Is Graham ever left along in your home for long periods of time? If so where does he stay?
Does he have access to water whenever he wants?

Has he been urinating in the house recently?

When he goes outside to the bathroom does he urinate in one spot or numerous different places?

Have there been any changes involving him (changes in his routines, changes in your home, family members, etc)?

Does he get plenty of exercise?

Anything else you think might be helpful, please let me know.

Talk to you soon,

Fay

Reader's E-mail - Suzanne Answers:

He has had this problem since 6 months old. That is when we got him from my brother in law who kept him tied up all day and night.

We crate train him when we go out or to work. He is so big for a puppy 29 1/2 " from the ground up, that he can't get comfortable at night in the crate so he sleeps with us. He only has access to water when he is out of the crate.

He has had a hand full of accidents since we got him. He is 10 months old now. He urinates in different areas. We have a privacy fence so we take outside without a leash. We changed his environment but kept the same crate that they were using with him. He has a better environment now.

I walk him most nights and 4 miles a day on the weekend.

Thanks Suzanne

All About Labradors Answer:

Dear Suzanne,

The information given here is to help you learn more about your Labrador Retriever and not to replace your veterinarian's advice. Disclaimer

From your answers, I'm still not sure if Graham has gotten crate training down. I'm assuming he received no crate training when he was with your brother-in-law. I don't know how far along you are with your crate training but I believe you need to condition Graham to see his crate as a positive place.

The crate should not be any bigger than he can comfortably stand up and turn around. If given too much space he may quickly learn to urinate or defecate in one end, and will not be forced to have to lay in it. Dogs are very clean animals, and prefer to be as clean as possible, they will learn quickly if they have to lay in their mess at least once.

I have two wonderful articles that will be off great help to you with crate training:

Crating Your Dog - http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/crating.html

Dog Crate Training - http://www.scribd.com/doc/2192698/Dog-Crate-Training

Just be advise Suzanne, All About Labradors is NOT affiliated with any links in the two articles.

Some tips in regards to crate training:

If Graham becomes upset or scared while in the crate, tell him “NO”, don't sweet talk him in an attempt to calm him, as he will only see the sweet talk as praise.

You can place a unwanted article of clothing with your scent in the crate for him to lay on. Throw the item in the bottom of your hamper for a few days will help embed your scent into the item. Remove the item if Graham starts tearing it.

As for adding toys in the crate, I highly recommend the Kong line of toys. They will help to keep Graham occupied as well as providing plenty of physical exercise as well as mental exercise. I personally love stuffing them full of dog treats and freezing them. Make sure you buy the right size for your Labrador Retriever and discard when pieces start to fall off of them. You can also place these these items in the bottom of the laundry basket for a few days to help embed your scent. The toys will also help to provide an activity at night if Graham chooses to get up.

I also recommend that you limit the water intake, by removing any water source after eight pm. At ten months, Graham should have a bladder capacity that can hold full for six to eight hours.

Provide plenty of exercise for Graham. You stated that you walk him most nights, four miles on the weekend and that you have a privacy fence. Besides the walking or if you can't walk him for the day, you could take him out in the fenced area and let him run around or play games such as fetch. A tired dog (one with no medical problems) will usually have no problem sleeping through the night.

I also recommend that you think about having Graham neutered. Having him neutered may help in eliminating his territorial marking, roaming, aggressive behavior and inappropriate mounting. Not to mention numerous health benefits.

I hope this will be of some help to you and Graham. If you don't understand anything, please let me know. If sometime down the road, you could also keep me updated on how it is going with Graham, it would be greatly appreciated.

Take care of yourself and Graham,

Fay

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Free ADT Pet Alert Window Cling

ADT is offering free pet alert window clings to help protect your Labrador Retriever(s) and whatever other pets you may own from home fires.

"The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), The American Kennel Club (AKC) and ADT Security Services are teaming up in a proactive effort to help save the estimated 500,000 pets affected in home fires each year.

One of the hallmarks of responsible dog ownership is keeping pets safe and planning for unexpected emergencies. This year we are pleased to distribute ADT pet alert window clings."

Please make sure you have a window cling on your windows. You can also visit the ASPCA to get a window cling.

This one is for the USA (sorry to the rest of my readers).

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Pet Ready for Travel

If your back seat is going to the dogs, Christina Selter has some tips to keep dogs and puppies of all sizes safe while traveling.



The video contains some new pet travel products to keep our Labrador Retrievers safe (actually all dogs but I can't help it).

Christina Selter is part of Bark Buckle Up pet safety program which is traveling nationally to teach and promote pet safety while traveling with our pets. You can learn more about their pet safety program and view their products by visiting their website at Bark Buckle Up.

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Sunday, March 08, 2009

What's in my pets food

Doing a little reading this evening on dog foods while trying to help a reader who had sent in a question.

I came across some very interesting articles and posts that I thought I would share with you. Be prepared that you may be totally shocked and angered by what you will read.

Shocking Pet Food Ingredients - 10 Harmful Ingredients That could Be In Your Pet's Dinner Tonight

I knew when I began to research the types of ingredients in commercial pet foods that I would probably be shocked, but it really is a lot worse than that. In many cases it is down right disgusting, not to mention harmful and unhealthy to our pets. Many foods that have been declared unfit for human consumption are trucked off to pet food companies.

Here are 10 common ingredients that could very well be in your pets dinner tonight if you are feeding them a commercial pet food product.

1) Euthanized cats and dogs (including collars, I.D. tags and flea collars, the fur is not removed)

2) Diseased animals

3) Hydrolized poultry feathers - pressure treated feathers from slaughtered poultry

4) Hydrolyzed hair - pressure treated hair from cattle, horses, pigs, and other slaughtered animals

5) Animal blood

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6) Dried poultry waste

7) Dried swine waste

8) Ground almond and peanut shells

9) Various leftover parts from slaughter houses such as lungs, spleen and brain, just to name a few

10) Stick marks - the chunk of flesh cut from an animal for human consumption that has been injected with hormones, antibiotics and other drugs

The scary thing is there is a lot more that I have not even listed. Even some commonly added vitamins and minerals have been proven harmful. Quite often the ingredient list is misleading. It's hard to know what we should feed our dogs if we can not trust what we read on the label.

Do you know what a rendering plant is? According to Ann N. Martin author of Food Pets Die For, "Renderers accept the waste and leftovers from our society. This includes animals picked up by dead stock removal companies; dead zoo animals, road kill to large to be buried at the side of the road; restaurant and grocery store garbage, including the styrofoam trays and plastic wrap; and hundreds of thousands of euthanized cats and dogs." Rendered product is quite common in pet foods. In fact the rendering facilities are often located near the pet food companies. Did you really ever expect it to be that bad? This is truly, truly disgusting.

But you know what? That's not all. In order to have an almost limitless shelf life, commercial pet food is quite heavily laden with harmful preservatives. Many of these preservatives have been banned from use in human food because they were found to be unhealthy.

A wonderful alternative to commercial pet food is making your own pet food at home. There are hundreds if not thousands of recipes for pet foods and snacks that you can make in your own kitchen. Many of these homemade pet foods can be made in bulk, frozen and stored for ease of use.

Considering all the unconditional love we receive from our pets don't we, at the very least, owe them a healthy dinner? They'll be happier, healthier and live longer. Besides we'll save all kinds of money on vet bills.

About the author: Anita Hamasaki is first and foremost a mother. She has three fabulous children to her credit. In addition to the kids, she also has a blue heeler by the name of Darwin and a beagle who goes by Bartley. Each are happy and healthy. For an outstanding recipe book for homemade pet foods, please visit http://www.HealthyDogFoodHomeMadeRecipes.com

"The following list of pet food ingredients and ratings was created by a cooperative effort between pet food formulator Dr. Lisa Newman, N.D., Ph.D. (www.Azmira.com), Mike Adams (www.HealthRanger.org) and the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (www.ConsumerWellness.org). Mike Adams and the CWC analyzed the ingredients of 448 popular pet food products sold in the United States and organized them by frequency." Pet Food Ingredients Revealed!



“The rendering plant floor is piled high with “raw product”… Thousands of dead dogs and cats; heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses; whole skunks; rats and raccoons… all waiting to be processed. The Shocking Truth About Commercial Dog Food

During my hundreds and hundreds of hours research in investigating dog foods I found the most remarkable things. Some of what I found was shocking and other facts were down right disgusting. For starters, the dog food industry is totally unregulated meaning that manufacturers can, and do, put whatever they want into "food". There are documented reports of animal waste products, ground up dog carcasses, non human edible grade products, and other animal wastes put into dog foods. Nutrition Pet Food Or Junk Food



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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Best age to breed my Labrador Retriever

Subject: Best age to breed my Labrador Retriever

From: Lisa (Australia)

Labrador Retriever Name: N/A

Reader's E-mail - Lisa Writes:

Hello

I have a golden labrador, she is only a pup. Thinking of breeding her in the future. When is the best age to do this?

Regards
Lisa

All About Labradors Answer:

Hello Lisa,

The information given here is to help you learn more about your Labrador Retriever and not to replace your veterinarian's advice. Disclaimer

Your Labrador Retriever should not be used for breeding until after two years of age which allows time to see how they mature both physically and mentally.

Health evaluations need to be done to determined your Labrador Retriever to be free from genetic or hereditary disease.

To help explain the age for breeding and evaluations in better detail I have posted a link to a very helpful article for you:

Canine Reproduction and Breeding Dogs -

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2109&aid=898

The article also recommends some excellent books to read prior to deciding to breed a dog, such as:

The Whelping and Rearing of Puppies by Muriel Lee

Book of the Bitch by JM Evans and Kay White

How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With by Rutherford and Neil

Here's a second article that covers everything in regards to breeding form health and temperament to cost and time:

Should Sassy Have Puppies? -

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/hvpup1.html

I hope this is of help for you. Thank you for writing and visiting All About Labradors.

Fay

P.S. - What is your Labrador Retrievers name?

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Sunday, March 01, 2009

Cocoa Mulch Dangers

I received an e-mail from Jamie in regards to an e-mail pertaining to the dangers of cocoa mulch. Now, I've seen this one a few times in the last few years but it seems that I never posted it to All About Labradors. According to Snopes.com this e-mail has been around since May 2003.

The weather will be warming up within the next couple months and gardening and landscaping will begin, so please be careful especially if you do use products with cocoa mulch.

Quote from Snopes.com - "Some manufacturers of cocoa mulch now proclaim that their products are theobromine-free and pet safe. Responsible pet owners should take care in their selection of cocoa mulch brands; some might prefer to choose another form of soil enhancement for their gardens, such as cedar-based products, rather than gamble their dogs won't be attracted to or harmed by cocoa mulch."

Here's a copy of the e-mail:

"Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don't have a pet, please pass this to those who do.

Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog Calypso decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk . Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's web site, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that 'It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it.'

The Snopes site gives the following information: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called ' Theobromine'. It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.

PLEASE GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION!!!"

Make sure you visit snopes.com to read the whole story as well as additional information on cocoa mulch fertilizers and chocolate poisoning in dogs. The site has some pertinent information and was just updated as of February 24, 2009.

I'd also like to thank Jamie ( Yellow Labrador with Intense Itching - part I ) for sending this in.

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