Canine Counterparts

Books In Review: “How to be your Dog’s Best Friend”

theesotericpard — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:38:42 +0000

I recently finished The Monks of New Skete’s Novel “How to be your Dog’s Best Friend”. Sequel to their book “The Art of Raising A Puppy”. I found it greatly intriguing, the book is not only a training manual for obedience, and solving common problems, It is a sneak peak into the lives of both the monks, their German Shepherds, and how they relate to each other. Making it an interesting read, as well as educational. I think the thing I hate most when reading a book on canines is being lulled to sleep on the history and theory of training and losing interest in the book all together. This book wonderfully mixes both lessons on training and many humorous stories about the dogs and people that have found their way to New Skete for help. It was a Spectacular read, that kept my interest through its entirety. I was surprised to learn many new techniques for not only my Dobermans, but also my little Chihuahua, Finn. I would highly recommend it especially to those considering bringing home a new dog or puppy.

Dog Food Ingredients Revealed: Meat By-products

theesotericpard — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:31:59 +0000

Would you scrape up roadkill from the side of the road and feed it to your pets? I would hope not, but this isn’t even close to the horrors that lie in that bag of dog food you buy from your local store. Glance at the ingredients label…You might see Meat By-Products, Animal by-products or Bone meal. These titles allow the pet food companies to use almost ANY product from ANY animal in their foods while disillusioning us to believe it is actual meat. The sources of this meat is appalling, and frightening.

Most commonly this will consist of Slaughter house rejects, or the animals that can not be consumed by humans due to cancerous tumors, dealth upon arrival, or many other repulsive reasons. Grocery store meats that have expired are also quite commonly found in these “meat mixtures” right along with all the plastic packaging they where in to begin with.

Worst are the Millions of Euthanised dogs and cats that are added to this mix along with the plastic bags, id tags, and any flea collars that may have been on them when they arrived at the factory. Thats right your pet is actually ingesting the same substance vets use to treat pesticides and humanly kill animals! As if this wasn’t unacceptable enough this mixture must then be denatured so it is not used for human consumption! This process of spraying an approved denaturing agent over the remains which may be kerosene, fuel, oil, or citronella just to name a few! Its simply outrageous!!!

This is just one of the reasons I will only feed a raw foods diet to my dogs, and will always continue to do so… The following two books where a godsend when I first learned of these atrocities… Hope they help you as well!!

Commercial Dog Food Secrets!
What’s really in the bag of dog food? Horrific facts you wont believe. New ways to feed your dogs, to both keep them healthier longer, and save you money

Healthy Food for your Dog: 245 Dog recipes

Great book and ITS on sale too! Hundreds of USEFUL recipes to keep your dog healthy. My dogs utterly adore them, and are so much healthier. Best part he Guarantees Great Results.

Azalea: A Pretty Poison?

theesotericpard — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:37:11 +0000

When you have as many dogs as I do, you expect emergencies from time to time. However I don’t think anything could have prepared me for this one. I was (for once) actually graced with a relaxing weekend which consisted mainly of reassessing some of last years gardening choices. Two of these new hopefuls where beautiful pink azalea bushes.. Planted on either side of the gate in my backyard. I went to bed that night proud and accomplished of the job well done. The next morning I let the dogs into my backyard so they could enjoy some fresh air while I got ready for the day. Left alone to their own devices the Dobermans decided the azaleas would make perfect playthings. They then proceeded to dig them up and shred them branch by branch. By the time I returned to check on them there was nothing left. Not so much as a leaf i could actually mourn. I didn’t think to much of it, as I am use to their clever antics. However about three hours later my little guy Finn (a five pound chihuahua) starting feeling pretty bad, and vomiting profusely. So off to the vet we went. Come to find out Azaleas are highly poisonous, a fact I had never came across before. The poisons had almost completely infiltrated his little system by the time we got to the vet and where beginning to cause kidney and liver damage, on top of severe dehydration. He was given mass amounts of fluids and medication after they did some blood work, put him on baby food and pedyalite to hopefully help give him back some of the electrolytes he had lost. The little guy was back to his former self about three nightmarish days later, and I thank god for it. Luckily the other three never so much as flinched… But it Shows the massive size difference at best I would say. It was a hard and scary lesson to learn. I don’t think I will be doing any gardening without consulting the experts again. Who knew azaleas where so dangerous?

Canine Counterparts

Books In Review: “How to be your Dog’s Best Friend”

Dog Food Ingredients Revealed: Meat By-products

Azalea: A Pretty Poison?

Recommended Reading.