News, Advice and Resources for Thoughtful Pet People
Posts just about dogs.
Ten reasons to spay or neuter your cat or dog.
Many communities have spay/neuter programs that offer services at reduced cost and sometimes for free. Please get your pets fixed.
And if you need to have an intact male dog to show how tough you are, many communities have programs that offer therapy or counseling on a sliding scale.
The Tricky Treat Ball is a great way to feed your dog. It’s also a very effective way to keep your dog from bolting his food and risking bloat. And unlike the Brake-Fast Bowl I wrote about previously, the Tricky Treat Ball stimulates your dog’s brain and keeps them entertained. (I also discuss the Twist ‘n Treat, which works in a similar way.)
You fill the Tricky Treat Ball with your dog’s kibble—I can get about 1.5 cups in the orange one—and then let them at it. There is one hole in the side with a tube that leads to the center of the ball, so as they roll it around and toss it, small amounts of kibble fall out for them to eat. If your dog is unsure what to do with it at first, try putting some really good treats in it. They’ll catch on quickly.
We’ve had the opposite problem of bolting food with our dog Saffron. We actually had a hard time getting her to finish her dinner, which made it difficult to predict when she’d need to be let out to go potty. The very urgent 3:00am bathroom breaks weren’t fun. When I started using the Tricky Treat Ball, she would work at it until her kibble was all gone because it was fun.
Here’s a good video to show you how it works.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urviyn9Gbug
These helmets for dogs to provide some protection for dogs on motorcycles or dogs with health issues like epilepsy or blindness. You can even get them customized.
The Neck’s Best Thing Collar is another alternative to the dreaded Elizabethan collar (also known as a cone or lampshade collar). This collar doesn’t look as durable as the BiteNot Collar I’ve previously written about, but it still looks useful and very versatile. You cut this collar to size and you can customize it. It can be cut for a splint or used like a compression bandage for the abdomen. And it can be used on dogs, cats, even birds. (It was originally made for a bird named Hagar who had a feather plucking problem.)
I already have a BiteNot Collar, but I’m planning on getting a Neck’s Best Thing Collar for our earthquake kit.
Check out these other alternatives to Elizabethan collars:
“Yoga Kitty” by Peter Organa.
Peter has a real talent for capturing the personality of his subject. Not surprisingly, he’s a professional pet photographer in Toronto. You can see more of his work on flickr.com under “piotr m”. These are a few more of my favorites.
