Friday Is “Take Your Dog To Work Day”

June 21, 2007

Friday Is “Take Your Dog To Work Day”

Saffron doing her favorite kind of work—running!

Tomorrow is Take Your Dog to Work Day. The annual event was started in 1999 by Pet Sitters International to bring attention to the value of dogs in people’s lives and provide an opportunity to focus on the need for pet adopting. The event falls on the Thursday after Father’s Day every year. This year companies in the US, Canada, and Australia are participating.

Here are some good tips on how to make your dog’s day at work go well.

According to one survey almost one out of five companies allow workers to bring their dogs to work everyday. And the job search site, SimplyHired.com, allows you to search for jobs at dog-friendly businesses (see Special Filters pull-down menu on Advanced Search).

June 20, 2007June 20, 2007

We Like: The Buster Cube

When we first adopted Saffron, she wasn’t good about eating her food. She just wasn’t very interested. I thought that since she’d been a stray on the Yakima Indian Reservation, she’d be a chow-hound, but no. So, it was hard to get her on a schedule for needing to go outside to go potty. And because she wasn’t in good shape, she’d get tired very quickly at the dog park and then other dogs would try to pick on her.

I needed to get her eating regularly, so I started acquiring different food dispensing toys in an effort to get her to eat. The Buster Cube is one of these. She loved it! You fill the cube with kibble or small treats and as the dog plays with the cube, food travels through the channels inside and small amounts of food will randomly fall out. You can adjust the center tube to control how much food falls out. It comes in two sizes for small and larger dogs. It is hard-sided and therefore noisier than some other treat dispensing toys, but it’s durable.

Other people have the problem of their dogs eating so fast they risk bloat. And all dogs can benefit from the mental exercise of “working” for their food. The Twist ‘n Treat and the Tricky Treat Ball are other treat/food dispensing toys. The Brake-Fast Bowl is a bowl designed to stop dogs from bolting food.

Here’s video of Roland, the Husky, using his Buster Cube:

(direct link to video)

June 19, 2007June 19, 2007

“Be A Human—Care For Your Dog”

In May, Israel launched a nationwide spay and neuter campaign with the slogan Be A Human—Care For Your Dog. Pet owners will be able to spay or neuter their dogs for one third the normal cost. The campaign was organized to reduce the deaths of so many unwanted dogs. It’s estimated 50 to 100 thousand dogs are abandoned every year in Israel. They suffer terribly on the streets and only 10% of those that make it to a shelter are adopted. The rest are killed.

The campaign will also to reduce the financial burden on national & local authorities and animal welfare groups incurred in capturing, housing, euthanizing, and disposing of Israel’s unwanted dogs. The estimated annual cost is 25 million shekels (about $5,987,311 US).

Sounds great, right? Apparently, not everyone thinks so. Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, chief rabbi of the city of Ramat Gan in Israel, says the Torah bans surgical spaying or neutering. Reuvan Ladiansky, of the animal welfare organization, Let Animals Live, counters that the Halakha (the body of Jewish religious law) unequivocally forbids causing suffering to animals and that spaying or neutering is the humane way to decrease the population of unwanted dogs.

Here are the ASPCA’s reasons to spay or neuter, and these are the AVMA’s reasons to spay or neuter.

June 15, 2007June 15, 2007

Cyanuric Acid in Unrecalled Science Diet Food—Pet Food Recall

Itchmo.com is reporting that EperTox has found cyanuric acid in Hills Science Diet Light Adult Canned Dog Food. The samples tested had the “best before date” of 01 2009 and the lot number T0520917 7048. This is especially disturbing because this food still has not been recalled.

Find out much more about the pet food recall on my Pet Food Recall Archive Page.

June 15, 2007June 15, 2007

Acetaminophen In Two Pet Pride Varieties—Pet Food Recall

The private citizen who had food samples tested has revealed what varieties they were. After his cat, Chuckles, died, Don Earl sent samples to the lab, EperTox, which found acetaminophen in Pet Pride “Turkey & Giblets Dinner” lot number APR 24 09 and Pet Pride “Mixed Grill” lot number SEP07 09—both made by Menu Foods. The other varieties that tested positive have not been revealed due to confidentiality agreements with the lab because the manufacturers themselves sent in the samples.

Strangely, the FDA is throwing doubt on the lab’s findings after testing only a few samples that they admit are not necessarily the same samples EperTox tested. Maybe it’s not so strange, but way to go FDA. You once again appear to be a shining beacon of leadership and competence. Not.

Less surprising, is Menu Foods and the Pet Food Institute casting doubt on EperTox’s findings and on the lab itself.

Find out more about the signs of feline and canine acetaminophen toxicity. And find out much more about the pet food recall on my Pet Food Recall Archive Page.